BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) — The Brunswick High School football team’s season has been canceled and its coach fired following a hazing investigation that found wrongdoing at an overnight team retreat, the school department said.
The Brunswick School Department said Wednesday in a letter to the community that longtime varsity coach Daniel Cooper was fired. School officials said they could not safely field a varsity team given the removal of several players from the team, injuries and other factors.
The school department’s lawyer had conducted an investigation into allegations that a sex toy was put in the mouth of a boy while team members restrained him during a preseason retreat at Thomas Point Beach in Brunswick, the Portland Press Herald reported.
A heavily redacted copy of a report detailing the investigation said several videos of the alleged hazing circulated the school, according to the newspaper.
“The investigation revealed serious misbehavior that was out of step with our policies and expectations,” Superintendent Phil Potenziano wrote in an email to the newspaper.
Cooper had been placed on leave along with assistant coach Greg Nadeau. It’s unclear if Nadeau will face further punishment.
“I’m not ready to say much right now. The wound is still fresh and it hurts,” Cooper told the newspaper in a text.
The Brunswick Police Department is conducting its own investigation and will be reviewing the videos.
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