A newly released 37-page investigative report dives into the allegations of hazing and bullying involving the Mt. Ararat High School boys hockey team.
The heavily redacted report was released Friday to the Press Herald following a request under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act. Previously, Topsham-based Maine School Administrative District 75 had released only a two-page summary of the investigation and said the full report was confidential under Maine law.
The district hired attorneys at Brann & Isaacson in Lewiston to conduct the independent investigation into the allegations. Over 30 people were interviewed, according to the report, which provides explicit details on two instances: one that occurred on a bus and the other in an away locker room.
The names and pronouns of all individuals in the report are redacted.
According to the report, interviewees recall that in November 2024, while the team was on a bus home from Rockport, one person had their pants pulled down and hands put around their throat, while a person pushed someone’s face into their crotch.
In December of that year, in a locker room at Hebron Academy, the report states that interviewees witnessed someone being pinned down on the ground, while someone attempted to pull their pants off and that someone shoved pickles in their mouth. There were also claims that a person urinated on another person in the shower.
Verbal bullying, such as the use of homophobic slurs and “harassing messages,” were also reported.
The report notes that a “group of students” interviewed “seemed genuinely disturbed” by some of the actions, while stating some others seemed to “downplay” their account of events in their interviews.
The report also says that some people may not have been fully truthful in their interviews with investigators.
“There are clearly two camps with very different perspectives. Ultimately, I am not persuaded that any one student, or a group of students or families, is vindictive or ‘out to get’ any of the respondents, whether they are players or coaches,” the report states. “I am more inclined to believe that (redacted) were motivated to close ranks and protect (redacted), and to protect (redacted), and therefore were not always truthful during the course of this investigation.”
The report states that the school district “learned of allegations that students on the hockey team may have engaged in hazing, bullying and harassment of other students on the hockey team” on or around Jan. 4.
The Mt. Ararat hockey team is a co-op team that also includes players from Lisbon High School and Morse High School in Bath.
Two senior players, along with head coach A.J. Kavanaugh and assistant coach Todd Ridlon, were suspended during the investigation, although Superintendent Heidi O’Leary repeatedly emphasized that the move was not necessarily an indication of guilt.
Parents and supporters of the hockey team showed support for a suspended player at a game in February by wearing matching shirts with his number on them. Some players put stickers on their helmets with the number as well. Reports of taunting and unsportsmanlike conduct followed, creating “a highly charged and divisive environment on the ice, in the locker room, and in the stands,” O’Leary said.
Kavanaugh resigned following the game, before the investigation was complete. Once he resigned, he was no longer part of the investigation.
O’Leary subsequently canceled the last game of the season. The forfeit meant Mt. Ararat did not play in the playoffs this season and that the program faces a two-year suspension by the Maine Principals’ Association, the governing body for high school athletics, which the district has appealed. A hearing on the appeal is scheduled for September.
In late April, the school district released a two-page summary of what was learned during the investigation. At least four students on the hockey team were subjected to hazing that was described as “physical aggression and/or intimidation” and “sexually inappropriate conduct.”
In May, Mt. Ararat Principal Chris Hoffman outlined steps the district has taken and plans to take, such as extra training, more supervision and team building, and accountability.
“I want our student-athletes to know they have the support of their leaders and their community,” he stated during a school board meeting.
Some community members have taken issue with how the district approached the investigation. One parent of a player said at that meeting that the investigation “shattered trust and inflicted real harm” and was “leading and manipulative.”
Another said it did not “paint the entire picture.”
The controversy involving the Mt. Ararat boys hockey team comes on the heels of two other hazing investigations involving Maine high school sports teams. Last fall, the Lisbon football team forfeited half its season after allegations of hazing surfaced. And in 2021, the Brunswick High School football team ended its season early after officials investigated claims of hazing.
SAD 75 board Chair Amy Spelke did not immediately respond Friday night to a request for comment.
