College player charged in hazing incident turns himself in

One of the five football players at a Christian college wanted for hazing charges has turned himself in.

Wheaton College student Kyler Kregel arrived with his parents to turn himself in at 4.30pm Tuesday.

The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s office announced Monday that the five Wheaton College players are charged with aggravated battery, mob action and unlawful restraint.

A judge signed arrest warrants and set $50,000 bonds for James Cooksey, Kyler Kregel, Benjamin Pettway, Samuel TeBos and Noah Spielman.

(top row left to right) James Cooksey, Kyler Kregel, Benjamin Pettway, (bottom row left to right) Noah Spielman and Samuel Tebos have been charged following a hazing incident from last year. Kregel turned himself in on Tuesday afternoon

Spielman is the son of former NFL star Chris Spielman.

All five are expected to turn themselves in to authorities in the coming week.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the victim told police he was in his dormitory room in March 2016 when they duct-taped his hands and feet, put a pillowcase on his head, threw him in a car, attempted to sodomize him with an object and dumped him half-naked in an off-campus park.

The student, who has not been identified, left the Christian school and now attends college in Indiana.

‘This has had a devastating effect on my life,’ he said in a statement to the Tribune.

‘What was done to me should never occur in connection with a football program or any other activity. … I am confident that the criminal prosecution will provide a fair and just punishment to the men who attacked me.’

(Pictured L to R) James Cooksey, Kyler Kregel, Benjamin Pettway, Noah Spielman and Samuel Tebos are accused of attempting to sodomize an unnamed student

Noah Spielman is the son of former NFL star Chris Spielman, who played professionally for eight years and now works as an analyst for FOX NFL

Wheaton College (pictured 2003) said it was ‘deeply troubled’ by the allegations stemming from March 2016

Wheaton College said in a statement that other players and coaching staff alerted college officials to an ‘incident.’

The college added in the statement that it was ‘deeply troubled’ by the allegations and noted it has a strict no hazing policy for its students.

So far, the school has disciplined the student-athletes by requiring them to perform 50 hours of community service and write an eight-page essay reflecting on their behavior, the Tribune reported citing several sources familiar with the case.

‘The conduct we discovered as a result of our investigation into this incident was entirely unacceptable and inconsistent with the values we share as human beings and as members of an academic community that espouses to live according to our Community Covenant,’ campus spokeswoman LaTonya Taylor said in a statement.

‘We are profoundly saddened that any member of our community could be mistreated in any way.’

The school is ranked fourth among all Division 3 football programs in the country.

Wheaton College’s full statement

‘Wheaton College aspires to provide an educational environment that is not only free of hazing, but practices our values as a Christian community. As such, we are deeply troubled by the allegations brought by law enforcement against five members of our football team. When this incident was brought to our attention by other members of the football team and coaching staff in March 2016, the College took swift action to initiate a thorough investigation.

Our internal investigation into the incident, and our engagement with an independent, third-party investigator retained by the College, resulted in a range of corrective actions. We are unable to share details on these disciplinary measures due to federal student privacy protections.

‘The College has fully cooperated with law enforcement in their investigation. To not impede the law enforcement investigation, the College was bound by confidentiality and unable to share more information until now.

We are profoundly saddened that any member of our community could be mistreated in any way. This incident has prompted our Board of Trustees to engage outside experts to lead a campus-wide review of the level of effectiveness of our anti-hazing policy and of the culture around how students treat one another in our campus communities, athletic teams, and organizations. Wheaton remains committed to providing Christ-centered development programs and training to all our students.

‘In 2014, we revised our anti-hazing policy and improved our training protocols to include a formal review of our anti-hazing policy with all student athletes every year, with required student signatures; we also require annual training for residence assistants who are responsible for residence hall activities. Despite these deeply troubling charges, we have experienced positive changes on campus, including rapid responses from campus leaders to reports of hazing or other inappropriate behavior and effective disciplinary review.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk