Former player sues school district, coaches over sex hazing

DONNA - A former high school football player who was the victim of an alleged locker room sexual assault has sued the Donna school district and his former coaches.

The federal lawsuit claims a culture of "deliberate indifference" led to the attempted sexual assault of four younger players at the hands of older teammates at Donna High School.

Four players were indicted on charges that they participated in 2004 and 2005 in holding down the younger players and trying to insert a gloved finger into the anuses of the victims. Each has since pleaded guilty to lesser charges or arranged separate punishments with prosecutors.

"The administration has a duty to protect the students," said Ronald Rodriguez, an attorney representing the former player and his mother. "These coaches failed my client and others in failing to protect them from sexual assault."

The lawsuit names former head football coach and athletic director David Evans, suspended Superintendent Joe D. Gonzalez, former assistant varsity football coach Alfredo Holguin Jr., former head freshman football coach Robert D. Gracia, Principal Fernando Castillo and Assistant Principal Celestino Avila Jr. It seeks unspecified "punitive" damages.

In 2005, the Donna School Board fired Evans, Holguin Jr. and Gracia over the matter. The board said the coaches tried to keep the hazing accusations quiet.

Evans, who now coaches at Valley View High School in Hidalgo, has maintained that he didn't know about or condone any hazing among team members.

"We're in the process of reviewing the claims made in the lawsuit and are prepared to respond to them in court," said his attorney, Augustin Rivera Jr.

The other defendants could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The lawsuit claims the district maintained customs and policies that encouraged hazing and neglected to investigate complaints of abuse.