YUCCA VALLEY — Suspensions for six Yucca Valley High School football players who allegedly sexually hazed a teammate have been extended amid protests from parents who claim school officials violated the accused teen-agers' rights. The six players, arrested earlier and booked for investigation of false imprisonment, sexual battery and rape with a foreign object, have been suspended since the locker room allegations were disclosed Nov. 3 and Nov. 7.
Attorney Mark Lopez, representing parents of the accused students, said after a school disciplinary hearing Wednesday that the players could remain on suspension for up to 25 days or until another hearing next month.
Lopez said that hearing could come the first week of December.
Shortly after their arrest, the students were released to their parents.
Those parents claim school officials and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department violated the players' civil rights by interviewing their children outside their presence and by placing video-surveillance equipment on campus.
Since the arrests, detectives have interviewed about 100 students in the case, sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said. She refused further comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
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Morongo Basin Unified School District Superintendent Patricia Brown-Dempsey also declined comment.
Lopez, who is also director of the parents rights group SchoolWatch, said he received new witness statements at Wednesday's disciplinary hearing. The lawyer added he is seeking statements from more witnesses.
"We just want to make sure that these kids are allowed due process," Lopez said.
Four players were cited for a hazing incident and two others for hazing a teammate between late August and early September.
The alleged hazing was reported Oct. 27 after one of the football players told his parents about the locker room incidents.
The student told detectives that most, if not all, of the alleged abuses were committed by teammates and no school staff or adults were involved.
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