NINE TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLERS CHARGED IN HAZING

Nine Texas high school students were charged with sexual assault in a hazing scandal involving athletes, police said Monday. Seven juveniles and two adults are charged with allegations dating to 2014, La Vernia police Chief

Bruce Ritchey said. All nine have at some point been athletes at La Vernia High School, which has about 1,000 students. Ritchey said the hazing primarily involved the football team, but the basketball and baseball teams also were involved to a lesser degree. Ritchey declined to release the names of any of those charged. Ritchey declined to specify the nature of the sexual assaults alleged. The allegations have rocked the farming town of about 1,000 residents situated about 20 miles east of San Antonio. Students from surrounding communities attend the high school. “The travesty of the events occurring at the La Vernia High School have crushed the spirit of our community,” School Superintendent Jose Moreno wrote in a posting on the La Vernia Independent School District’s Facebook page.