High School Football Coaches, Players Charged in Vicious Hazing Scandal

Ten members of a Pennsylvania high school football program, including four coaches, have been charged following a disturbing hazing scandal involving a 15-year-old player who was allegedly punched, kicked, stomped with cleats and prodded with a broomstick.

The alleged attacks involving members of the Cheltenham High School football team took place inside the locker room on two separate occasions in 2025, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Prosecutors said the first incident happened on Aug. 15, 2025, while players were changing after practice. Two juvenile players allegedly recorded the attack, and the footage was later shared with teammates and other students during the fall semester.

According to a grand jury filing, the video showed several players holding down the sophomore while another player used a broomstick to poke at his buttocks over his clothing.

A second alleged assault occurred on Sept. 3, 2025.

Multiple witnesses told investigators that several players, including 18-year-old Isaiah Simpson, kicked or stomped on the victim. The same juvenile accused of using the broomstick during the first incident allegedly did so again.

The victim said he curled into a ball while still wearing football equipment in an attempt to protect his head as teammates punched, kicked and stomped him in the head and groin with cleats.

He also told investigators that players attempted to poke him in the butt with a broomstick. The object did not penetrate him but allegedly made contact with his butt cheek through his shorts, prosecutors said.

Although no coaches were reportedly inside the locker room during the attacks, four members of the coaching staff allegedly learned about the second incident shortly afterward.

Volunteer coach Ralph Burnley, 60, was driving the teen home from practice when the player said he had been “jumped” and injured in his genital area.

Burnley then contacted head coach Terence Tolbert, 55, leading to text messages between several coaches and a group phone call with the victim.

During that call, Tolbert and assistant head coach Darian “DJ” McFadden, 42, allegedly told the teen they would handle the situation and asked him not to tell his mother what had happened.

Prosecutors said the coaches, including assistant coach Benjamin Johnson III, 45, decided to address the incident privately with the team rather than notify the boy’s mother, school administrators or law enforcement.

Investigators alleged that the coaches feared reporting the incident could jeopardize the football program.

Burnley, Tolbert, McFadden and Johnson were each charged with endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child.

Simpson was charged with several offenses, including conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

Another player, 18-year-old Josiah Peeler, was charged with false swearing.

Four additional players, who were juveniles when the alleged incidents occurred, face a variety of charges. Their identities have not been released because of their ages.

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

The victim’s mother reportedly learned about the second attack several days later from a family member who had heard about it from other parents.

She took her son to an urgent care facility, where doctors diagnosed him with a contusion to his penis, authorities said.

Cheltenham school administrators were later alerted to the allegations through an anonymous reporting app and contacted police.

The football season was suspended on Oct. 17, 2025, before being canceled entirely.

Steele said numerous witnesses, many of whom were initially reluctant to speak, testified about the two locker-room incidents and the actions allegedly taken by the coaches afterward.

“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,” Steele said.

Authorities are now making arrangements for the accused players and coaches to surrender to police.