Noah Spielman faces charges after hazing

WHEATON, Ill. — Upper Arlington graduate Noah Spielman is among five Wheaton College football players who will face felony charges after being accused of a 2016 hazing incident in which a freshman teammate was restrained with duct tape, beaten and left halfnaked with two torn shoulder muscles on a baseball field.

DuPage County Judge Joseph Bugos signed arrest warrants and set $50,000 bonds against Spielman and four other players — James Cooksey, Kyler Kregel, Benjamin Pettway and Samuel TeBos — on Monday afternoon. Prosecutors charged the athletes with aggravated battery, mob action and unlawful restraint. They are expected to turn themselves in to authorities this week.

Spielman is 21-year-old defensive lineman and the son of former Ohio State linebacking great Chris Spielman, who currently works as a football analyst for Fox Sports.

Messages left with the players or their families were not immediately returned.

Three of the accused, including Spielman, played in Wheaton’s victory over Carthage on Saturday, and all were listed on the team roster as of Monday afternoon. The Division III program is ranked fourth in the country.

The victim, who the Tribune is not naming, left the conservative Christian school shortly after the incident and now attends college in Indiana.

“This has had a devastating effect on my life,” he said in a statement to the Tribune. “What was done to me should never occur in connection with a football program or any other activity.”

The college released a statement late Monday saying it was “deeply troubled” by the allegations. The school said it hired a third party to investigate the allegation last year and took “corrective actions,” but officials declined to provide details on any punishment, citing federal privacy laws.

Sources told the Tribune that several players were required to perform 50 hours of community service and write an eight-page essay reflecting on their behavior.