By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Five football stars at Illinois's Christian-focused Wheaton College are accused of kidnapping, beating, and attempting to sodomize a freshman.
A judge signed arrest warrents Monday for five Wheaton College football players accused of a horrific attack on a male freshman last year.
The alleged victim -- who no longer attends the Chicago-area Christian college -- says he was kidnapped last year from his dorm, had his arms and legs bound with duct tape, and was beaten, peppered with anti-Muslim slurs, stripped to his underwear, nearly penetrated by a foreign object, then left half-naked in a baseball field as temperatures dipped near freezing. The student named James Cooksey, Kyler Kregel, Benjamin Pettway, Noah Spielman, and Samuel TeBos as the men behind the attack; all five are currently listed as football players for Wheaton. Three of the accused played in a football game on Saturday.
The alleged perpetrators are expected to soon turn themselves into police, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Officials at Wheaton, a Protestant college established in 1860, said they were "deeply troubled" by the charges and are investigating the matter. Sources told the Tribune that the school previously slapped the players on the wrist for their alleged attack, making them perform community service and write an essay on their behavior. Students at Wheaton are required to sign a no-hazing policy, ironically.
Though Wheaton has a history of racial tolerance, there have been exceptions -- members of the football team were caught dressing in Ku Klux Klan robes and carrying Confederate flags three years ago.
