Suspensions Handed Down in High School Baseball Hazing Case

Six members of Gwinnett County’s most successful high school baseball program have been suspended in connection with a summer hazing incident during a tournament in South Carolina.

Gwinnett County Public Schools suspended the Parkview High School players for a semester to a full year, the Gwinnett Daily Post reported. All of the players are upperclassmen.

WSB-TV reported five of the players were suspended for the entire year; the sixth was suspended for a semester. The school district has not commented on the specifics of the case.

• RELATED: ‘Inappropriate Contact’ Alleged on High School Baseball Trip

The suspensions stem from a June 5 incident at a North Charleston, S.C., hotel, during a tournament trip involving the Panthers Summer Baseball Team, on which many Parkview students play.

The accused players allegedly entered the rooms of incoming freshmen players and wrestled with them. One of the upperclassmen allegedly had “inappropriate physical contact” toward one of the freshmen, the school district said in a statement after the incident. The incident reportedly involved sexual misconduct.

WXIA-TV reported the victims were one 13-year-old and three 14-year-olds, the accused were 15 to 17 years old.

No charges have been filed against the players because none of the victims’ parents came forward to press any charges, North Charleston Police told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Gwinnett Public Schools spokesperson Sloan Roach said in a statement Monday to the Daily Post:

“Gwinnett County Public Schools is committed to creating a safe, positive environment for our students and the school system takes student safety very seriously. Hazing and retaliation are serious matters that the school district will not tolerate.”

But lawyers representing five of the players have argued the school district has no jurisdiction in the matter, because the Panthers Summer Baseball Team is not affiliated with the high school team, the school district or state athletics association, and neither was the tournament the team played in, the AJC reported. Therefore, they argued it was not a school-related function and the school was over-reaching its authority.

The lawyer filed a petition trying to block the punishments, but it was turned down in Gwinnett Superior Court last week, the AJC further reported.

Roach said in a Monday statement sent to media that the incident was clearly a school-related issue:

“It was a Parkview High School summer baseball program and all of the students were Parkview High School students at the time,” she said.

The students can appeal the suspensions, and lawyers are “weighing their options,” the Daily Post reported.

Parkview High is one of the state’s top baseball programs. The Panthers recently won the Class 6A championship, its sixth state championship.