NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Four former Cheltenham High School football coaches and six players have been charged in connection with allegations of hazing in the school locker room last year, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday. Prosecutors said the coaches attempted to cover it up after they were notified of the incidents.
The charges stem from two incidents — one in August 2025 and another in September. Police said multiple football players beat a 15-year-old player in the locker room.
The first incident was recorded on video and shared among players. Officials said it shows one teen restraining the victim while another pokes his buttocks with a broomstick — based on a TikTok trend at the time that featured lyrics from rapper Meek Mill.
The second assault occurred nearly three weeks later. Investigators said the victim stole equipment from another player’s locker, so the coaches made the players run extra laps. Later in the locker room, multiple players kicked and stomped on the victim, officials said, and again assaulted him with the broomstick.
No coaches were in the locker room during either assault.
According to investigators, volunteer coach Ralph Burnley gave the victim a ride home that day, and he told the coach what happened. Burnley immediately informed the other coaches — and told the victim not to tell his mother, because “they would handle it,” authorities said. They did not contact the boy’s mother or school administrators.
District Attorney Kevin Steele said the coaches were more concerned about the football season than the victim. At a press conference on Wednesday, he read recovered text messages quoted in the grand jury presentment:
“This has to be handled and kept quiet. It’s just like hazing. I’m telling you, if this gets out, they could put the whole team in jeopardy,” it reads. One of the other coaches responds, “If this gets out, we are effed. They will cancel the whole season.”
The victim’s mother learned about the September assault a few days later from a family member who heard about it from other parents. She took her son to urgent care, where he was found to have sustained a contusion to his genitals.
School officials learned of the assault several weeks later. In October 2025, the school district suspended and then canceled the rest of the football season. The district canceled this year’s season as well.
Cheltenham Superintendent Dr. Brian Scriven said in a letter to the community Wednesday that the school district is "committed to the safety and well-being of every student."
“No student should ever have to experience violence or fear in a school-related setting,” he said. “While no legal outcome can erase the harm that was experienced, we appreciate that after nearly a year, charges have been announced and those responsible are being held accountable through the criminal justice system."
The coaches — 55-year-old head coach Terence Tolbert, 42-year-old associate head coach Darian “DJ” McFadden, 45-year-old assistant coach Benjamin Johnson III, and 60-year-old Burnley — were each charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Six football players were also charged with offenses ranging from aggravated assault to false swearing. Two of them were 18 at the time of the locker room incidents and were charged as adults.
“These assaults on a football player were not the typical goofing around by teammates. These were crimes,” said Steele.
Prosecutors say coaches tried to cover up hazing incidents
Prosecutors say coaches tried to cover up hazing incidents
