Coaches Suspended in NJ High School Football Hazing Scandal
Seven players face criminal charges in the alleged hazing
— -- Football coaches who also teach at the New Jersey high school embroiled in a hazing scandal have been suspended with pay from both positions, according to an official briefed on the situation.
Among the teachers suspended at Sayreville War Memorial High School were five with tenure, reportedly including head football coach George Najjar.
The suspensions were expected to be discussed Tuesday evening at the district's next school board meeting.
Several of the seven football players at the school accused in the hazing scandal appeared in court Tuesday, the beginning of legal proceedings as investigators try to determine the depths of the alleged abuse.
Seven players -- ranging in age from 15 to 17 -- face charges stemming from the alleged hazing. Three students face sex-crime various charges, and others face charges including aggravated sexual assault to conspiracy and criminal restraint.
They were charged after four victims were allegedly held against their will in four separate incidents, while the defendants improperly touched them in a sexual manner.
The seven suspects have all been suspended from school, with the football season canceled indefinitely amid the hazing investigation.
It is unclear if the teens are being held, or if they are back with their parents. Authorities with the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office have not announced whether they intend to charge any of them as adults.