UPDATE: The Saginaw County prosecutor's office decided not to file charges against five Saginaw Valley State University football players who had been named in an alleged hazing incident, a representative for the university told The Huffington Post.
The representative said that "University Police at SVSU conducted a thorough investigation of the allegations. Their reports were turned over to the Saginaw County prosecutor's office, as is our standard practice. After reviewing the case, the prosecutor's office determined that no criminal activity occurred and no charges were filed."
Four of the accused players served a one-game suspension; one of the athletes was suspended for two games.
Previously:
A recruit to the Saginaw Valley State University football team in Kochville, Mich. said his teammates sexually assaulted him in a hazing ritual, according to MLive.com.
A 25-page police report was obtained by MLive.com after coach Jim Collins suspended four offensive linemen and a defensive end for violating team rules. The report says the incident started when the recruit, who's 17 years old and has not been named, refused to sing to the team in its locker room. The teen alleges his teammates surrounded him and touched him with their genitals.
Each suspect denies physical contact with his accuser. The report -- investigated as fourth degree sexual assault -- acknowledges inconsistencies in the teen's story across several interviews, but stories collaborate to say his teammates surrounded him after he refused to sing and after treating him badly in comparison to his peers.
The teen told authorities that the players formed a half circle around him and one lineman rubbed his penis against the teen's back and buttocks while another jumped from a bench and his bare buttocks came into contact with his shoulder. While trying to escape, the teen told police players shoved him against a locker.
The teen called his mother, who called the coach, describing the incident with the word "rape."
In an interview with a detective on the following day, the teen told a similar story, saying 20 naked men surrounded him. He described different lengths of time when describing how long players rubbed their private parts on him. He also did not mention players shoving him.
When the detective left to handle a nearby call of disorderly conduct, MLive.com says the teen refused to answer further questioning without his mother or an attorney present when the detective returned. He told the detective that he planned to press charges.
A spokesman for the university told the Midland Daily News,
For all students, including student athletes, hazing is prohibited. Beyond that, there are certainly other standards of conduct that a coach can have for his or her program. In this instance, clearly coach Collins felt the players' conduct was outside of what he considers appropriate.
Offensive linemen Tevon Conrad, Kaleb Forr, Jack Raymond and Jesse Somsel and defensive end Nate Snyder were named as suspects in the report. In Michigan, fourth degree sexual assault is a high court misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of two years in prison.