For many students, high school is difficult enough without the added perils of bullying. It's a time where many students are finding out who they are while trying to keep up with their rapidly changing bodies. Unfortunately, bullying happens, and sometimes that bullying can take a gruesome turn, just as it did for one member of a New Mexico high school soccer team. According to a new lawsuit filed late last week, members of a “southeastern New Mexico high school soccer team raped a young teammate, recorded the sexual assault of another player and subjected other players to violent sexual acts as part of hazing.”The federal lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque by one of the player's parents. According to the parent, her son was “raped by Hobbs High School soccer teammates in 2016 shortly after another player was sexually assaulted on a bus.” The suit also alleges that video evidence “showed soccer players sexually assaulting a boy two years ago and that a coach told players to delete the cellphone video.” To make matters worse, the suit alleges the horrific hazing and rapes of younger players on the boy's varsity soccer team have been occurring for years, ever since fall of 2015. On top of that, the suit claims the sexual assaults “frequently happened in front of the coaching staff who did nothing to stop the abuse and did not report it.” So adults allegedly knew what was happening to the younger plays, even witnessed it, and did nothing to stop it.

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The parent who filed the suit claims that as a result of the abuse, her 13-year-old son became "withdrawn, irritated and lost his desire to play soccer.” She learned about her son's abuse when she grew concerned about his behavior and checked his phone for clues. It was then that she discovered “the video of the alleged Sept. 17, 2016, assault of the boy on the bus.” From there, she reported the video content to administrators at Hobbs High School, who allegedly took no action.In addition to her son's abuse, the parent also claims another alleged sexual assault occurred earlier this month during an out of town, overnight trip. According to the suit, “several younger players were held against their will in a hotel room in El Paso, Texas, and were sexually assaulted by several older players.”Because the school administrators did nothing and appeared unwilling to intervene anytime soon to investigate the allegations, the parent went to the police. In a statement earlier this week, Hobbs Police Chief Chris McCall said his department is investigating the matter. Currently, the soccer coaches, Superintendent T.J. Parks, and current and former administrators are listed as defendants in the case. The suit is seeking unspecified monetary damages.So how has the school responded to the lawsuit? Well, so far Hobbs Municipal Schools Superintendent T.J. Parks has declined to comment on the matter, though he said the district was in the midst of investigating the alleged incidents.

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Lawsuit: New Mexico soccer player raped by team membersUS mum sues over rape of soccer player son