A sign hangs around the track at Lisbon High School on Oct. 9. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

The Lisbon High School football team has a “culture of hazing and roughhousing,” an investigation into recent allegations of hazing at the school found.

The hazing has included players whipping one another with leather belts, at least once until bruising occurred; at least one incident of a freshman student being hit headfirst into a trash can; and multiple instances of players being trapped behind a chain-link metal door and poked with brooms by upperclassmen, lawyers with the firm Drummond Woodsum found during their weekslong investigation.

The Press Herald obtained a copy of the firm’s final report Monday evening, ahead of a meeting by the Lisbon School Committee.

“We find that hazing occurred among the Lisbon High School football team this season and possibly prior seasons,” the lawyers said in the report. “It is clear that the players universally wanted to be seen as being unfazed. … Although they said they were willing participants, they obviously did not want adults to find out about these activities.”

Attorneys Tom Trenholm and Kelsey Cromie, who completed the report, interviewed 40 students between Oct. 15-23, they wrote in the report. They requested to speak with every player on the roster since the start of the 2024 season.

Players described “a lot of horseplay” taking place in the locker room when adults were not present, often between the end of the school day and the start of practice, the lawyers said. Players described seeing incidents in person, as well as in videos posted to social media, they said.

The locker room has two sections, one of which is surrounded by a metal chain-link fence and a door of the same material. When that door is fully open, it creates a triangular space between rows of lockers, according to the report. Players, usually upperclassman, would trap others, typically underclassmen, in that space, with one or more players pushing against the door to keep the person on the other side stuck. Sometimes, players would poke a wooden broom handle through the door.

“Numerous players identified a specific underclassman this season being poked in the stomach, back, and butt by an upperclassman, whom they would not identify,” the lawyers wrote.

Upperclassmen told investigators that they were trapped behind the door in previous seasons and suggested that similar incidents happen with other sports teams at the high school, the report said.

Interviewed students also reported at least two separate one-on-one fights between players using leather belts.

In addition to physical violence, the “vast majority of the team” reported that first-year players are expected to carry equipment and water jugs for the rest of the team. Some players called these “freshman duties,” the report said.

“Even in conversations where they called these activities ‘consensual’ and ‘fun,’ players described a hierarchical relationship between younger and older players,” the lawyers said in the report.

Many of the players resisted providing specific details, and some looked visibly nervous during the interview, the lawyers said. They added that teachers overheard players telling their teammates not to share details during their interviews.

“Some players told us they were told to ‘not say anything’ about what happened,” the lawyers said in the report. “Although they would not specify who said that to them, our impression was that this came from other players.”

Players told investigators that they never reported these incidents to any coach or administrator, and they attempted to classify them as typical “horseplay,” according to the report.

The Lisbon Greyhounds ended the season with a 2-6 record after suspending all football activities and forfeiting their last four games. It’s not clear whether the suspension will carry into next year or what consequences students may face following the report.

More than two dozen attendees waited for the Lisbon town conference room doors to open and for an executive session concerning legal counsel to end at the Monday evening school committee meeting.

As the crowd poured into the relatively small room, committee members voted to come out of executive session and to adjourn before their regularly scheduled workshop would begin. When the workshop was called to order and the Pledge of Allegiance completed, committee Chair Margaret Galligan-Schmoll opened the floor to public comments. No one approached the podium.

Several parents were upset to learn of the report from the media and even more upset that the committee did not dedicate any time to discuss the report. Superintendent Richard Green said the opportunity will be provided at a future meeting after the committee has time to digest the report.

Asked why the report was released before school committee members could have it explained to them, Green said, “I don’t know because I haven’t released it yet.”

The allegations in Lisbon come three years after the Brunswick School Department fired its football coach, removed some players and suspended the season following an investigation that found players held down a teammate and forced a sex toy into his mouth during a team retreat.

Voicemails left with Green were not returned Monday night.

The Lisbon Police Department sent the results of its criminal investigation to District Attorney Neil E. McLean Jr. this month. McLean did not respond to emailed questions Monday night about the status of his office’s investigation and whether charges are being considered.

Lewiston Sun Journal Staff Writer Joe Charpentier contributed to this report from Lisbon.

This story will be updated.