Mt. Ararat players line up before the start of a game Jan. 11. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

An investigation into allegations of hazing and bullying by members of the Mt. Ararat High School boys hockey team has revealed a pattern of potential student misconduct that “intended to embarrass or humiliate the target” and violated district policies.

A two-page executive summary released Tuesday concludes that at least four students were the subject of hazing and describes some of the misconduct as “unjustified use of physical aggression and/or intimidation,” and “sexually inappropriate conduct.”

The full investigative report was not released, and Amy Spelke, who chairs the school board for Topsham-based Maine School Administrative District 75, said in an email that those findings were “confidential documents under the law.” Other school districts in Maine have released full reports after conducting similar hazing investigations.

“We understand that the behaviors and events described in the summary are very troubling, we ask you to remember that the individuals involved are still children,” she wrote.

Superintendent Heidi O’Leary hired the Lewiston law firm Brann & Isaacson to conduct the investigation in early January after allegations first surfaced of two incidents — one related to a bus ride home from an away game, the other in a locker room.

Two senior players, along with head coach A.J. Kavanaugh and assistant coach Todd Ridlon, were suspended during the investigation, although O’Leary repeatedly emphasized that the move was not necessarily an indication of guilt.

One game was postponed, but the team returned to the ice when the school board approved Erik Baker, O’Leary’s brother, as interim head coach. Many parents were upset and lobbied school officials and board members to reinstate Kavanaugh, but that never happened.

Kavanaugh resigned in February, long before the investigation was completed, and is now coaching another youth team based in Lewiston. Once he resigned, Kavanaugh was no longer part of the investigation.

His resignation came after Mt. Ararat’s season came to an abrupt end following a game in which parents showed support for a suspended player by wearing matching shirts with his number on them. Some players put stickers on their helmets with the number as well.

That public show of support during the team’s senior night devolved into reports of taunting and unsportsmanlike conduct from both adults and players, and it created what O’Leary called at the time “a highly charged and divisive environment on the ice, in the locker room, and in the stands.” She responded by canceling the rest of the season.

The hazing and bullying investigation dragged on for several weeks without explanation, although the executive summary explains that the investigation quickly expanded after “interviews with student athletes revealed a broader pattern of potential student misconduct.”

“These additional allegations were sufficiently serious to compel further inquiry, which necessarily expanded the investigation’s scope and, therefore, timeline to completion,” the summary states.

Interviews with 31 individuals, including all members of the co-op team that includes players from SAD 75, as well as nearby Lisbon High School and Morse High School in Bath, revealed that pattern includes “the use of homophobic language, intentional urination on teammates in the shower, humping teammates in the locker room while nude, taunting with sexually inappropriate gestures, and other degrading and unwelcome conduct.”

The report also dispels any belief that the allegations were made with “ulterior motives” and instead suggests that some team members who denied knowing about any inappropriate conduct had their own ulterior motives, “such as to close ranks or protect themselves from potential retaliation.”

Mt. Ararat High School in January. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

No players were named in the report, and it does not offer any recommendations for penalties or changes to policies.

O’Leary did not respond to an email Tuesday afternoon asking follow-up questions.

Because the Mt. Ararat team had to forfeit a game, it faces a two-year suspension by the Maine Principals’ Association, the governing body for high school athletics. That suspension has been appealed.

The hazing involving the hockey team occurred just a few months after allegations of hazing involving members of the Lisbon High School football team derailed that squad’s season.