Calif. high school football players cited for sexual battery

GILROY, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California high school says its varsity football season has been canceled following four players being cited by police for sexual battery after a teammate reported he was assaulted on campus.

The Gilroy Unified School District said Wednesday it has learned “that most of the varsity players have chosen not to finish the season and therefore, at this time, the season will not continue,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Gilroy police began investigating Sept. 26 when the assault was reported to the police, the department said Tuesday.

The school district has not provided details of the assault, citing student privacy. Police say all students involved are minors and members of the Gilroy High School varsity football team.

Gilroy is about 70 miles (113 kilometers) south of San Francisco.

The police department says there is no evidence the assault was “a hate-motivated crime” but did not release any other information.

School district officials previously said in a statement they took “appropriate and immediate actions” once they heard of the assault but did not say whether the students were disciplined.

KSBW-TV reports the victim went to authorities and said he had been attacked in the locker room.