The front of Lisbon High School on Route 196. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Lisbon High has removed seven players from its football team, the latest move at the small, close-knit school after an investigation of alleged hazing involving football players was announced Friday.

Richard Green, superintendent of Lisbon Schools, said the decision to remove players from the football team stemmed from the school’s internal investigation of an alleged on-campus hazing incident. That investigation, now led by Portland law firm Drummond Woodsum, is ongoing.

“We were confident from our information that (the removal of players) was warranted,” Green told the Press Herald. “And the reason we’re doing an internal investigation is I want a thorough job and to make sure we protect and provide support for all of our student-athletes and coaches and staff.”

The Lisbon Police Department is working on its own investigation, focused on potential criminal behavior during an alleged hazing incident that school administrators first reported to the school resource officer on Oct. 2.

Lisbon police Chief Ryan McGee said on Thursday that he could not provide details of when or where the possible hazing took place, or other specifics about evidence, because the investigation is ongoing and involves minors. He did say he expects the police case will be brought to the district attorney, whose office will ultimately determine if criminal charges are filed and pursued.

Green said the school’s current investigation is based on “new information we received, last Friday,” of allegations that there “may have been incidents of hazing this year.” Green declined to say if the players were suspended from school, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that prohibits the release of students’ educational records.

The removal of the seven players from the football team comes one day after Lisbon announced it was forfeiting its Friday night home football game against Freeport. Lisbon also forfeited its Oct. 4 game at Mountain Valley High in Rumford. That forfeit came after the school suspended all football-related activities earlier in the day. Green emphasized that none of the Lisbon football coaches has been suspended, but “all football-related activities at the high school level are suspended until further notice. Until we conclude our investigation.”

McGee said the Lisbon Police Department is not involved with any school-related decisions regarding students or athletic teams.

McGee added that he has been encouraged by the number of students and their parents who have come forward to share information. Gathering evidence, McGee said, has been slowed by the need to obtain search warrants so investigators could examine devices and information “that’s stored in the cloud.”

During athletic contests at Lisbon High on Wednesday, about 20 parents who were asked about the alleged hazing incidents said they did not want to speak to a reporter.

But one parent, Jen Theriault, 42, a lifelong Lisbon Falls resident, said her daughter has seen a video that reportedly depicts at least one act of hazing. “She told me about it the day before it all came out to the public. They had seen it all. The video,” Theriault said. “There is videos of these kids doing it. I have not seen it personally but my daughter has.” Based on her daughter’s description of the video, Theriault said the incident could be considered sexual assault.

The snack shack at Lisbon High School is adorned with some Lisbon Greyhounds logos. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

McGee would not comment on whether his office has obtained any video of the alleged hazing incident. He did encourage anyone with “physical evidence,” to report it to police.

All schools in Maine are required by state statute to have a formal hazing policy that also outlines potential penalties for violations. Lisbon Schools’ policy, last revised in 2000, states that it “shall be included in all school, parent and employee handbooks or otherwise distributed to all school employees and students” and that students who violate the hazing policy are “subject to disciplinary action, which may include suspension, expulsion or other appropriate measures.”

The Lisbon policy echoes the state statute that injurious hazing, whether it happens on or off school grounds, is prohibited.

Injurious hazing is defined as “any action or situation, including harassing behavior, that recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical health of any school personnel or student enrolled in school or any activity expected of a student as a condition of joining or maintaining membership in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses or endangers the student, regardless of the student’s willingness to participate in the activity.”

Lisbon is the second high school in three years to suspend or halt its football activities because of hazing charges.

In October 2021, the Brunswick School Department canceled the rest of the high school football team’s season and fired longtime coach Dan Cooper in the wake of an internal investigation led by Drummond Woodsum into alleged hazing at a preseason team retreat.

Brunswick went through an appeal process with the Maine Principals’ Association so it could field a varsity football team in 2022. MPA rules state if a team fails to complete a season it is ineligible to play at the varsity level for two years.

A forfeit constitutes not completing a season, MPA Director Mike Burnham confirmed. Schools can appeal the two-year ban to the MPA’s Interscholastic Management Committee. Burnham said appeals are decided on a case-by-case basis.