by Adam Pfeiffer ‘20

On February 6, the parents of three victims of the 2018 Damascus JV football hazing incident sued the Montgomery County Board of Education, as well as former Damascus principal Casey Crouse, former Athletic Director Joseph Doody, former JV coach Vincent Colbert, and former varsity coach Eric Wallich.

The claim stems from an incident that occured on Halloween of 2018, before the last JV practice of the season, in which five sophomore members of the JV football team used a broomstick to sodomize, and attempted to sodomize, four freshman members of the same team.

The lawsuit claims that the defendants did not act properly in reporting the incident to police authorities and parents of the victims, instead alleging that Crouse and Doody tried to handle it on their own in an attempt to preserve the school’s football prestige. Additionally, the litigation accuses coaches and administration of being aware of the hazing “ritual” since 2016, yet did nothing to stop it.

One of the alleged leaders of the assaults was kicked out of Clarksburg and transferred to Damascus, and despite his violent history, MCPS allowed the transfer to occur. This is another complaint mentioned in the lawsuit, as the parents of the victims feel the county did not do their part to ensure the safety of all students.

In May, Superintendent Jack Smith issued a statement in which he condemned the lack of supervision of the athletes, stating that it is “completely unacceptable.” The county has since implemented procedures that every coach must follow to ensure the supervision and safety of athletes in the locker rooms.

Since the attacks were reported, Crouse has stepped down as principal of Damascus, and reassigned to a different position within MCPS; Colbert and Doody were removed from their positions; and Wallich recently resigned following the 2019 3A state title game in which Damascus won 38-0 over Linganore.

The three families of the 2018 victims have also been joined in the lawsuit by a fourth family, who claims to have been victim of a 2017 incident, in which similar hazing rituals took place. Overall, the suit mentions at least five incidents of the brooming that took place between JV football players from 2016 through 2018.