Idaho Authorities Charge Former Members Of Blackfoot High School Football Team With Multiple Counts Including Sexual Assault Over Hazing Incident Involving School’s Basketball Team; Assaults And Forcible Confinement Took Place Repeatedly Over Three Months Beginning December 2009

Reuters reports that five players from a Blackfoot, Idaho high school football team are under investigation for sexual hazing incidents, authorities Thursday saying that three college football players and two others are facing multiple charges including sexual crime, false imprisonment, and battery, court documents detailing the five forcibly penetrated fellow members of the high school basketball team, battering and restraining the victims in a locker room and on a school bus over a three month period that began in December, 2009. Charged are Anthony Clarke, a freshman wide receiver at Bowl-bound Boise State University, Nathan Walker, a tight end for the Idaho State University Bengals, Logan Chidester, a freshman on the Carroll College Montana football team, and Tyler Katseanes of Blackfoot, all aged 19. A fifth, unnamed defendant has been charged as a juvenile in the case. Blackfoot Police Captain Kurt Asmus said on Thursday that law enforcement officials had contacted additional victims since charges were filed earlier this month based on allegations made by four people."It has mushroomed from there," Asmus said. "Now that everything is out, more victims are coming forward because they realize they are not alone and they don't need to be afraid or embarrassed."He added that authorities are tracking leads in other states and that additional charges were likely. University officials were reluctant to comment on the players, all of whom have been suspended from their teams. Frank Zang, spokesman for Boise State, said Clarke, a freshman walk-on, had yet to play in the 2010 season. KIDK-TV, meanwhile reports that the four adults are to appear in 7th District Court on December 23rd.