High school football player allegedly stomped, jabbed with broomstick by teammates as coaches hid it: DA

Ten members of a Pennsylvania high school football team, including several coaches, face charges after a player was allegedly stomped with cleats, and jabbed in the buttocks with a broomstick.

According to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, a 15-year-old player was allegedly assaulted on two separate occasions in 2025 by teammates from Cheltenham High School.

Prosecutors said the first incident happened on Aug. 15, 2025, and was recorded by two juvenile players, then shared with students and other teammates over the following semester.

Assistant coach Benjamin Johnson III, 45, allegedly joined other coaches in a decision to keep the matter in-house rather than alert the school or the boy’s mother, fearing it could jeopardize the team.

High school administrators learned of the alleged hazing through an anonymous reporting app, called police and then canceled the football team’s season.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said, “These assaults on a football player were not the typical goofing around by teammates. These were crimes.”

“Numerous witnesses, many reluctant to share what they saw and knew, testified about what occurred in the Cheltenham High School locker room on these two occasions and testified about actions taken by some of the football coaches after the assaults,” he said. “After carefully considering all of the testimony and evidence, including reviewing the recovered videos of one of the assaults, the Grand Jury recommended charges against the four juveniles, two other football players and four coaches.”