Four teenage boys are facing sexual assault charges in connection to an incident at a Lethbridge High School.
The two seventeen-year-olds and two sixteen-year-olds are said to be players on the Chinook High School football team and are connected to the alleged sexual assault of a teammate.
In a statement, the Lethbridge Police Service says, “The investigation determined on October 3rd, 2023, a 16-year-old male was forcibly confined and sexually assaulted in a locker room at Chinook High School after regular school hours. The victim and subjects are all football team members and are known to one another. This was not a random incident.”
LPS officers are reported to have seized the weapon allegedly used while executing a search warrant at the school on October 4th. Three of the accused were arrested without incident at the school on October 10th, while the fourth turned himself in at the police station.
The four are charged with sexual assault with a weapon, assault with a weapon and unlawful confinement. All four have been released from custody and are to have no contact with the victim; they are also not allowed to go to the high school or be on the school grounds.
“There is no evidence to suggest any ongoing risk to other students in relation to this matter, and the school remains open.”
Police will not release the name of the accused under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, as all four are under 18.