Public expulsion hearings being held in Napa hazing investigation
NAPA, Calif. (KGO) -- Napa Valley Unified School District is holding a public expulsion hearing for a football player accused of hazing.
The hearing will be to decide whether or not to expel Johnny Torres, a Napa High School JV football player, for one year.
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"I am here because I am concerned there should be a fair process," said Rachel Smith, a parent.
"This would never be allowed in the legal world. Never," said Mandy Leigh, the attorney representing Torres.
The high schooler along with eight other JV football players is facing expulsion after an alleged hazing incident last October.
According to a declaration by one player, they charged and held another player down while a third poked that player through his uniform pants, in the rear end.
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Torres says it was just horseplay. "When kids are in a locker room horse playing, that may be obnoxious and annoying, but that is not sexual," said Torres' attorney.
A student told an administrator, who was required by state law to report it to police, who now continue to investigate.
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In the meantime, Johnny Torres, who had been an honor student, has been out of school for 10-weeks, and worries about his future.
"I need to be in school. I do not want to retake 10th grade and throw my college education down the drain," said Torres.
The school board could vote on Torres as early as Wednesday night.
