Grand jury uncovers not 1, but 2 incidents
In September 2025, Cheltenham High School officials received information that a 15-year-old football player was assaulted in the team’s locker room earlier that month. Cheltenham School District reported the incident to ChildLine and the Cheltenham Township Police Department after an anonymous tip was made to Safe2Say.
Initially, the school opted to temporarily suspend the program. However, Cheltenham later decided to cancel the football season altogether.
“We do not condone or tolerate hazing or abuse of any kind in our sports programs or in our schools,” Scriven wrote in a letter to families at the time. “It is our duty and obligation to protect and prioritize student safety and well being, even when we know that our decisions may come with consequences and disappointment.”
Although law enforcement quickly began its investigation, Steele told members of the press that officials were “stymied” from completing their probe through traditional means.
“There has been reluctance by most parties, adults and juveniles, to tell what they knew, what they saw, what they heard that day in the locker room and afterwards in the next several weeks,” he said.
In December 2025, prosecutors referred the matter to a grand jury.
Through that process, evidence revealed not one but two instances of hazing: the previously known Sept. 3 incident and an Aug. 15 incident that was captured on video.
“On both occasions, multiple football players were in the locker room following preseason practice,” Steele said. “They were getting changed out of their gear. There were no coaches or adults in the locker room at either time.”
Steele said the first incident on Aug. 15 was recorded by two juvenile football players, who shared the videos with multiple players and other students but later deleted them.
“What it showed is several football players, including alleged delinquent juvenile 2, in the locker room restraining the juvenile victim while their teammate, alleged juvenile delinquent 1, used a broomstick to poke at the victim’s legs and buttocks,” Steele said.
The investigation did not uncover video of the Sept. 3 incident.
“This incident was reportedly prompted by the team having to run extra conditioning drills assigned by the coaches after it was discovered that the victim took some equipment from another player’s locker,” Steele said. “Testimony before the grand jury from multiple witnesses described that incident as involving multiple players, including, and I’ll name this individual, Isaiah Simpson, and other unidentified players.”
Statements revealed that the players allegedly kicked or stomped on the juvenile victim and also assaulted him with a broomstick.
According to the findings of fact in the grand jury report and presentment, the victim suffered a contusion to his genitals.
