Lawsuit: Penn State football players threatened to ‘Sandusky’ teammate during hazing
A former Penn State football player accused the university’s football staff in a federal lawsuit filed Monday of retaliating against him after he reported hazing by several teammates.
The eight count, 46-page lawsuit filed in the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania by Isaiah Humphries seeks unspecified financial damages. Humphries sued the university, football coach James Franklin and former teammate Damion Barber.
Barber, defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos and linebackers Micah Parsons and Jesse Luketa orchestrated a campaign to harass and haze underclassmen as a form of initiation into the program, Humphries’ attorney Steven Marino wrote.
Humphries’ alleged abusers wrestled him to the ground, mimicked “a humping action” while on top of him and placed their genitals on his face, Marino wrote. They also made threats they would “Sandusky” him, according to the lawsuit, referring to former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, who is serving 30 to 60 years for molesting young boys at the university.
The hazing occurred at several places on the University Park campus, including the Lasch Building, and was observed repeatedly by coaches who did not intervene, Marino wrote.
Penn State police, the university’s student conduct office and sexual misconduct prevention and response office each investigated the allegations lodged by Humphries, university spokeswoman Lisa Powers said in a statement.
The investigations were carried out independent from Intercollegiate Athletics, Powers said.
The police investigation was forwarded to the Centre County district attorney’s office, which opted not to file charges, Powers said. County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna declined to comment.
The results of the student conduct office investigation led to unspecified sanctions against Barber, Marino wrote. He was suspended for the first game of the season against Idaho for what was termed a violation of team rules.
Humphries said he and his father, Leonard Humphries, a former Penn State football player who went on to play in the NFL, complained about the alleged hazing, but were ignored.
In retaliation for his report, Franklin and his staff required Humphries to participate in drills designed to ensure his failure “to justify an opinion that (his) performance was not sufficient to award him a game playing opportunity,” Marino wrote.
He also claimed his former teammates conspired to encourage him to leave the university, which he did in December 2018. He later transferred to the University of California.
“Jesse Luketa threatened that if (Humphries) ever visited ‘his city’ in ... Canada that he would make certain that (Humphries) was gunned down upon (his) arrival in the city,” Marino wrote.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 12:31 PM.