SANTA ANA, Calif. (KNX) — Videos showing Mater Dei High School football players engaged in alleged hazing and fights in the school’s locker room will be part of an investigation into the school’s athletic programs.
The videos also contained footage of players allegedly simulating sex acts on other players. Mater Dei president Father Walter Jenkins confirmed to the Orange County Register that two videos from 2018 obtained by the publication will be part of a Mater Dei commissioned investigation by a Sacramento law firm into the school’s troubled football and athletic programs.
The investigators are scheduled to begin interviewing Mater Dei students and staff Thursday, according to the Register.
The newspaper reports one of the videos showed a Monarch player sneaking up behind a smaller player and placing a bag or pillowcase over the smaller player’s head before they were surrounded by other players in the locker room.
The videos also showed at least six players surrounding and simultaneously slapping a cowering player, a player being dragged across the locker room past a condom, and a semi-nude player sitting on a toilet among other videos that showed fights and players simulating sex acts on each other, the Register reported.
The 2018 videos were reportedly posted on social media accounts of Mater Dei players.
“The contents as they appear are concerning and inconsistent with Mater Dei High School’s mission and core values,” school administrators said in a statement to the Register. “The school has safety and supervision procedures in place for the entire school and all campus activities including athletics. In the search for the truth, the videos will be shared with the outside firm that was brought on to conduct an independent safety assessment. Until that broad evaluation is completed, the school intends to make no further comments.”
This report comes just a day after Jenkins announced he would not be returning to the school, ending his tenure after less than six months. Officials said Jenkins’ resignation was not connected to the pending interrogations.
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