7 Students Charged With Assault In School Bullying Incident: Howard Co. Police

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — Seven students on the junior varsity football team at Howard High School now face second-degree assault charges for an alleged bullying incident, police say.

A student's mother spoke out about the incident in which her son was allegedly bullied by fellow members of the Howard High School junior varsity football team.

Howard County Police spokesperson Seth Hoffman confirmed Wednesday to the media that officers have charged the students, all between the ages of 14 and 16, via juvenile referral and that the investigation into the incident continued. No additional details have been released.

April Bridges told WMAR that students are unsupervised for an hour after school before football practice. The incident involving her son, who is also on the football team, happened Sept. 25.

Video footage provided to WMAR shows football players picking up her son and trying to shove him into the toilet. He had been beaten up to the extent that he was taken to the hospital, Bridges said.

Other incidents occurred as well. At one point, students pulled down his pants. In yet another, students sprayed bug spray inside his football helmet.

“He’s been beaten, battered, kidnapped, assaulted, sexually assaulted, false imprisonment, robbed,” Bridges told WMAR. “I would like charges pressed to the full extent of what occurred to my child."

Howard High School Principal Allen Cosentino emailed families on Monday, telling them that the junior varsity football program has been suspended in light of what happened, but no details could be provided because all students involved are minors.

Related: Howard High JV Football Program Suspended After Bullying Incident Reported