School district investigates hazing allegations on varsity baseball team

Yahoo

18-04-2025

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The Fallbrook Union High School District is investigating hazing allegations involving the Fallbrook High School's varsity baseball team.
'I have a 14-year-old that's walking around and wondering what other people are thinking of him because of the unjust that the school has taken,' parent Dave Mendoza said.
Mendoza says his son is among a group of boys on the varsity baseball team accused of sexually hazing another player.
'My kid is a freshman. 14-years-old on the varsity team., a 14-year-old freshman doesn't do the hazing when he's new to the team,' Mendoza said.
The incident took place in late March, but recently surfaced.
Mendoza says his son was suspended, kicked off the team and banned from games, and the others also accused faced similar actions.
He adds there's no evidence to back the claims made against the group.
The district superintendent released a statement that reads:
'The Fallbrook Union High School District was recently made aware of hazing allegations involving the baseball team. Upon receipt of the allegations, and in compliance with state and federal law, the District immediately began investigating the allegations. The district's investigation is ongoing. The District will take appropriate action upon the conclusion of the investigation. Student safety and well-being are the District's top priorities. The District cannot comment on the specific allegations or the corrective action that will be taken at the conclusion of the investigation due to student and staff privacy rights.'
Meanwhile, Mendoza and other parents in the community say there's been more fallout.
'Those kids couldn't go into town without people buying them lunch or high-fiving and now we can't even do a food drive in town because we're afraid of their safety,' said Jason Van Eik with Fallbrook Baseball Club.
And they're unhappy with the school's handling of the incident.
'Instead of doing what they need to be doing to be protecting these kids and going through the process of making sure they're not guilty until proven innocent, they're innocent until proven guilty,' Mendoza said.
Mendoza says while the baseball coach was fired from the job, he remains as athletic director.
'The faculty failed, things happened because there was nobody present, there was nobody there to be watching,' he said.
Not only does he want accountability, he wants the school to update the player handbook to include a zero-tolerance hazing policy and provide education on hazing.
'If there's nothing there spoken about hazing or the consequences of hazing, how can these kids be expected to make educated decisions? That's the job of the school,' Mendoza said.
Mendoza says he plans to file an appeal with the school and file a report with the sheriff's office.
The sheriff's office says its aware of the matter and awaiting the results of the school's Title 9 investigation.
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