Three students and a former coach face charges after disturbing locker room allegations emerge.

MANHEIM, PA – A Pennsylvania high school football program is at the center of a disturbing criminal investigation after prosecutors accused three students of subjecting teammates to racist extortion, physical assaults and sexual humiliation inside a school locker room, while a former assistant coach allegedly failed to report suspected child abuse.

Three Manheim Central High School students, including 18-year-old Nathan James Haldeman, face criminal charges stemming from alleged hazing incidents in April. Former teacher and assistant football coach Jared Thomas Shearer, 35, is separately charged with failing to report suspected child abuse after two students disclosed allegations to him.

The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office announced the charges following an investigation that uncovered allegations of repeated abuse during school hours, including demands for money described as a “Black tax” and an incident in which students allegedly restrained a victim and sprayed him with an aerosol substance in what they called a “gas chamber.”

Football locker room allegations include racist extortion and assaults

According to prosecutors, the alleged hazing occurred inside a football-only locker room at Manheim Central High School, where several teenage boys were subjected to repeated harassment and inappropriate conduct.

Investigators allege that two juvenile defendants began demanding money from several victims to enter the locker room, telling them the payments were required because they were Black.

The students allegedly continued demanding money over several weeks, referring to the payments as a “Black tax.”

When one 16-year-old victim refused to pay, prosecutors say the two juvenile defendants wrapped him in an extension cord and repeatedly struck him with elastic exercise bands.

The victim later told school administrators that the assaults occurred at least three times a week for approximately one month.

In another alleged incident, Haldeman and the other defendants restrained the same victim inside a locker room toilet stall and sprayed an unidentified aerosol substance on him.

Prosecutors say the students called the tactic the “gas chamber.”

The defendants also allegedly exposed themselves and rubbed their genitals against the restrained victim.

Another student reported that Haldeman and one juvenile defendant moved around him while nude as he changed clothes, making unwanted physical contact.

The allegations prompted charges including stalking, simple assault, hazing, false imprisonment, theft by extortion, indecent exposure, ethnic intimidation and conspiracy against the two juvenile defendants.

Haldeman, who was 18 at the time of the alleged incidents, faces two counts of stalking, conspiracy to commit stalking, two counts of indecent exposure and false imprisonment.

Former assistant football coach accused of failing to report abuse

The investigation also resulted in a criminal charge against Shearer, a former Manheim Central teacher and assistant football coach.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, two students disclosed the alleged abuse to Shearer in mid-April, including conduct involving indecent exposure.

Prosecutors allege Shearer failed to report the suspected child abuse to Pennsylvania ChildLine, despite being legally required to do so as a mandated reporter.

Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams criticized failures to prioritize student safety when allegations of abuse arise.

“I want to urge educators and school district employees in Lancaster County to always act with a child-protective mentality as opposed to a school-protective mentality,” Adams said.

She also called for Pennsylvania lawmakers to expand child welfare laws to explicitly classify hazing as reportable child abuse.

“As we’ve seen here and elsewhere in the Commonwealth, hazing causes real harm to its victims,” Adams said.

School officials reported becoming aware of the alleged sexual misconduct in mid-May after a victim’s parent contacted the principal. The principal subsequently interviewed a victim and witnesses, filed a ChildLine report and contacted local police.

Prosecutors said an investigation remains open into whether additional mandated reporters failed to fulfill their legal obligations.

Manheim Borough Police Officer Aaron Szulborski filed the charges, and Assistant District Attorney Fritz Haverstick will prosecute the cases.

Separate Pennsylvania school sports investigation ends without criminal charges

The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office also reviewed a separate case involving alleged misconduct among Manheim Township High School lacrosse players during a school trip to Stow, Ohio, in April 2024.

A Safe2Say tip alleged that a student was restrained while another teammate exposed himself and may have committed an indecent assault. The allegation also involved a video reportedly shared among students.

Prosecutors determined that school employees did not willfully violate mandatory reporting laws, despite the failure to submit a ChildLine report.

The district had promptly contacted local law enforcement and sought guidance from its solicitor, who recommended a Title IX investigation but did not advise school officials of their ChildLine reporting obligations.

The District Attorney’s Office concluded that the evidence did not support criminal failure-to-report charges against school employees.

“Though this case will not result in any criminal charges, mandatory reporters should always remember that the purpose of the Child Protective Services Law is to promote a system that prefers over-investigation of unfounded reports to the under-reporting of child abuse,” Adams said.

Prosecutors plan to provide additional guidance to schools regarding mandatory reporting responsibilities.

All defendants charged in the Manheim Central investigation are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.