This picture, which has been doctored to keep identities anonymous, allegedly shows a hazing incident among members of the Joliet Township High School girls’ varsity soccer team. (CBS)
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Updated 5/4/2012 at 9 p.m.
JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) – CBS 2 has obtained photographs from an alleged hazing incident involving members of the Joliet West High School girls’ varsity soccer team.
CBS 2’s Brad Edwards reports.
The pictures are now part of an investigation headed by police in Freeport, where the soccer team played in a tournament.
In one, a girl — her face painted, plastic-wrapped to a chair and blindfolded –- has a bar of soap jammed in her mouth.
Another girl is shown in a fetal position, trying to block a can of whipped cream with her bound hands.
The secret initiation in the Freeport motel over the weekend quickly landed on Facebook.
Parents tell CBS 2 a number of girls were suspended as well as the team’s coach. The school will only say they’re taking the matter extremely seriously.
The coach wasn’t present as the team returned to the field Thursday. School officials referred to a prepared statement that said, in part, “Please know that we are taking this matter extremely seriously.”
The statement also said their investigation is ongoing and it contains confidential information.
On Friday, parents told CBS 2 that three staff members and at least a half dozen players are in trouble – with penalties that include suspensions.
Others cautioned against any rushes to judgment.
“Sit back and make sure that you’re looking at the whole picture, and that you’re ready to destroy lives,” said Dawn Achterberg, whose daughter is a part of the Joliet West Soccer Program, though not involved in the incident.
Achterberg says the girls involved in the alleged hazing are fundamentally good people and students and shouldn’t have their academic futures ruined.
School representatives didn’t respond to numerous calls for factual clarification or comment Friday.
