Community shares concerns, top-ranked NY high school football team under investigation

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Lake George, Warrensburg and Bolton football team will not be returning to the field this season after the school was notified of sexual misconduct allegations among students on the team. The team was undefeated this season and ranked top in the state.

The decision to cancel the remainder of the football season came after the school found out that multiple team members allegedly participated in sexual misconduct toward another student on the team. The school said they were notified of the incident on Wednesday, Oct. 30. However, it allegedly happened weeks earlier, on a district school bus.

Some people in the Lake George area were surprised to hear that something like this happened near them.

"I mean it's definitely a little shocking, but I mean at the same time, there's got to be a punishment and unfortunately the people who didn't do anything, they kind of get dragged down," said Salvatore Astuto, a Glens Falls resident.

The school said they notified the Warren County Sheriff's Office immediately after finding out. Police began their investigation the following day, Halloween.

NEWS10 obtained a statement from the superintendents of each school involved. In part of a statement, they said they canceled the whole season because they discovered multiple students were allegedly involved.

"Due to the alleged participation of a number of student-athletes involved in the incident, both directly and indirectly, there will be disciplinary action taken against any students according to each district's code of conduct and athletic code of conduct," said Amy Langworthy, Warrensburg Central School District superintendent, John Luthringer, Lake George Central School District superintendent and Chad Shippee, Bolton Central School District superintendent.

Some people said from what they know so far, they believe the school is handling the situation as best they can.

"It sounds like they're doing the right thing if they're investigating and they're stopping the kids from playing right now until they know exactly what happened, because somebody suffered from this," said Debbie Ferry.

Other people were also hoping to find out some answers soon.

"Shame on them if they're guilty, if there's something there," said Steve Paton, a Diamond Point resident.

"If one team can't play, it messes up the schedule for everybody, but if there were issues, they need to be addressed for sure," said Ferry.

Another reason the school chose to cancel the remainder of the season was to allow the police to investigate.

"We recognize that the timing of this decision is disappointing. However, given the severity of the alleged circumstances and the ongoing investigation, this course of action was necessary," said Langworthy, Luthringer and Shippee.

The Wolverines were 8-0 this season, and were the top-ranked team in the state.

This is an ongoing investigation. The Warren County Sheriff’s Department could not comment further at this time. Anyone with information should contact the Warren County Sheriff's Office.