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GUNNISON — A 16-year-old sophomore from Gunnison Valley High School has been arrested and charged in juvenile court with multiple counts of sex abuse in a case of hazing that prosecutors say went too far.
"This isn't an instance where they made the kids stand up and sing an embarrassing song or wear an embarrassing outfit or something like that. This clearly crossed the line into sexual assault," said Sanpete County Attorney Kevin Daniels.
The boy, whom KSL has opted not to name at this time, was charged Friday in Sanpete County's 6th District Juvenile Court with six counts of object rape, a first-degree felony, and five counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.
Daniels said the boy is accused of assaulting nine or 10 other boys at the school. Both the defendant and the victims are involved in athletics at the school, he said.
Court documents list the alleged offenses as happening on Sept. 17. Daniels said there was an incident that was the "catalyst" to police discovering "many other" events.
"There was one … particular event that tipped it and caused the investigation to go underway and we received more information there were more victims," he said.
Daniels called the investigation "ongoing" and said additional charges are possible in addition to finding additional victims.
