Penn State Accused of Hazing, Underclassman Was Allegedly Told 'I Am Going to Sandusky You'

Penn State University is facing some serious allegations after a federal lawsuit was filed against their football head coach, James Franklin, and the University for hazing. Former player Isaiah Humphries is behind the suit as he was the subject of hazing by former teammate, Damion Barber, among others.

Micha Parson, Yetur Gross-Matos and Jesse Luketa were also named in the suit. According to the report, the coaching staff was aware of all that was going on but did not take any action to protect Humphries, but instead made life harder for him.

The allegations share various incidents that occurred according to Humphries. Among the various acts, Humphries, who is being represented by Philadelphia attorney Steven Marino, claims some of the participants made a reference to Jerry Sandusky, who finds himself serving a 30 to 60-year prison sentence after being found guilty of sexually abusing children. Humphries says those involved threatened him by saying, "I am going to Sandusky you."

In the lawsuit, the coaching staff allegedly witnessed some of the hazing acts. Humphries claims that after he reported what was going on, the staff went on to make life difficult with him, scrutinizing his play and later punished over minor things. Humphries transferred from Happy Valley in favor of heading out west to California.

Marino says his client was not the one who tipped him off to this situation, but rather an anonymous source who got the wheels in motion. Humphries' father, who played for the University in the late 80s, reportedly told the coaching staff about the hazing his son was going through but with no action against Barber or the others taken at the time.

Barber later found himself suspended for the first game of the season for a violation of team rules.

Penn State put out a statement shortly after the news came out and shared that they conducted their own investigation but did not find any wrongdoing.

"The university has established processes in place for responding to claims of potential misconduct," the statement began. "In accordance with our processes, the Office of Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response and the Office of Student Conduct carried out investigations of the plantiff's claims independent from Intercollegiate Athletics. In addition, Penn State police investigated related allegations and forwarded the results of that investigation to the Office of the Centre County District Attorney. The DA reviewed the case and decided that no charges would be pursued."