Five high school football players arrested for

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Five students at Seattle high school between the ages of 14 and 15 are accused of sodomizing an 18-year-old special education student with a broomstick in October.

The students, all football players at Juanita High School, were charged on Friday with second-degree rape. They will be arraigned in juvenile court on February 20.

The Seattle Times reports that the special education student was allegedly lured into the shower of the locker room on October 22..

It was there that three of the boys are accused of holding him down and pulling down his pants and underwear while one student attempted to sodomize the boy with a broomstick.

One of the players recorded the incident on his cell phone.

Kirkland police were called to the high school on December 22 when the victim's aunt claimed her nephew was sexually assaulted with a broomstick, according to court documents.

Police say one of suspects soon said, 'this isn't funny anymore' and the teens halted their attack, reports Komo.
The victim claims he was contacted that night by head football coach Shaun Tarantola, who said he was 'sorry that happened.'

The victim was a volunteer football team manager, and the boys were football players, reports Fox.

Students who witnessed the attack reported the incident to the Kirkland Police Department.

'Although the incident does not appear to have been sexually motivated, the charges reflect that the attack involved an attempted or threatened penetration with a broom handle while one student was restrained by several others,' the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

All five of the students were expelled from school and because they were tried in a juvenile court, their names will not be revealed.

Detectives interviewed the five suspects and all but one of them tried to place the blame on another student.

Only one player admitted to the alleged rape and said 'I was going to stick a broom up (the victim's) a**,' according to court documents.

In addition to the students' expulsion two of the Juanita football coaches were put on administrative leave in November while the assault was being investigated.

They were able to return to their jobs in January.

Principal Gary Moed wrote an email to students' parents following the incident saying that locker rooms would be supervised and locked if an adult is not able to be present.

'Five students have been charged with a very serious crime,' Moed wrote.

'The possibility that an incident of this nature could occur at Juanita High School has been devastating to this school and our community. This incident is not reflective of what we all know that Juanita High School represents. Our school has worked hard to make every student feel welcome and safe.'