OKLAHOMA CITY – A former high school football player accused in an alleged locker room assault is now facing an additional charge for the incident.
In October, 19-year-old Dawson Michael Mclain was charged with felony assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for his alleged role in the sexual assault of a younger student in the Putnam City West locker room.
Now, it seems that he is facing another charge for the incident.
Officials with the Putnam City Campus Police Department say that school officials received an email notification about the alleged assault through an online bullying reporting system in late September.
The email stated that an anonymous student witnessed an assault that happened on Sept. 28 in the Putnam City West football locker room.
The anonymous student said he witnessed the victim being carried from the freshman side of the locker room to the varsity side. The witness said he then saw someone “grab a broomstick and shove the stick up [the victim’s] rectum.”
On Oct. 1, school officials started contacting students and staff to investigate the report. As information was being gathered, “more reports were coming in that the assault occurred,” read the report.
School officials met with the students listed in the email report and determined that Mclain “aided in the assault by holding [the victim’s] hands down while the victim was assaulted by others with a broomstick.”
“All four confessed verbally and in written statements to participating in the assault of [the victim] with the broomstick,” campus police officials said in the report.
The suspects said in written statements that the broomstick, or “the stick,” has been passed down from class to class. Police say it’s a form of hazing referred to as “brooming,” and “normally involves students chasing each other around with the broom stick.”
However, this is the first report of an assault occurring from hazing within the football program.
In October, McLain pleaded not guilty to the assault and battery charge.
According to online court documents, McLain was charged with an additional charge of attempted first-degree rape by instrumentation on Wednesday.
His next pretrial conference is set for August 21.
