A second former Ursuline High School football player is now alleging a culture of hazing and abuse on the team in an amended federal lawsuit that was filed this week.
The amended complaint filed against the private high school and the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown alleges a culture of hazing going back to at least 2022, involving players sexually abusing, hazing and assaulting fellow students and filming it. Subodh Chandra, the attorney for the victims, said in a release Tuesday that his office has more than a dozen videos of players filming abuse of multiple players.
"When presented with videos of assault and child pornography, the principal’s alleged response was to tell students to destroy evidence and keep quiet. That would represent an institutional choice to obstruct justice and protect the football program over children," Chandra alleged in a news release. "Our clients are determined to hold everyone accountable for perpetuating this toxic culture."
The initial complaint filed in early September alleged a player was hazed and sexually assaulted at a football camp this summer. The amended complaint alleges the second player was hazed at the 2024 camp. A second federal lawsuit also filed in September by a female student alleged a football player assaulted and sexually harassed her.
The school and diocese have denied allegations that officials covered up wrongdoing and said the school has disciplined students and suspended coaches. Dennis Biviano, public relations and media specialist for the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, provided a statement from Ursuline High School Tuesday.
"As with the allegations previously raised, these latest allegations are extremely upsetting," Biviano said in the statement. "No students or their parents should have to deal with such challenges, and we will continue to cooperate with any investigating authorities. Indeed, Ursuline timely opened an internal investigation, which included reporting the alleged conduct to child services in two counties and the Youngstown police department, interviewing students alleged to be involved in the conduct, and issuing discipline consistent with our code of conduct. UHS then provided all documents it possessed at that time regarding its internal investigation to the Youngstown police department pursuant to subpoenas from the Youngstown police."
The amended complaint alleges the school possessed evidence of the hazing and abuse and confessions from players, but did not discipline students and allowed them to keep playing football. It further alleges the school did not report the allegations to law enforcement or children's services until June 2025.
Ursuline announced in mid-September it was canceling the remainder of its 2025 football season.
