Five Students at Richland 44 Junior-Senior High School Referred to Juvenile Court

Students were charged with 13 misdemeanor counts of hazing for incidents in boy's locker room

COLFAX, N.D. — The Richland County Sheriff says five juveniles have been referred to juvenile court and are accused of 13 counts of hazing and 11 counts of sexual assault at the Richland 44 Junior/Senior High School in Colfax.

School Board President Lisa Amundson says none of the students are currently attending class or any extracurricular activities.

The suspects and numerous male victims in various grades are all juveniles so no names have been released.

The alleged offenses happened in the boy’s locker room at Richland 44 Junior Senior High School.

The five males have been referred to juvenile court for hazing, sexual assault, felonious restraint and terrorizing.

The offenses were investigated by the Richland County Sheriff’s Office and the BCI.

No females were identified as victims.

Richland County Sheriff Larry Leshovsky said the findings were clearly in violation of North Dakota law.

“Well at this point in the investigation that determined that several incidents met the criteria to be violations of North Dakota laws which resulted in five juveniles being referred to juvenile court for various offenses,” said Leshovsky in a phone interview.

The investigation is still ongoing, and is being handled by the Richland County Sheriff’s Office and the BCI.

Richland 44 school board president Lisa Amundson released a statement this afternoon, saying that the board is deeply concerned about the nature of these misconduct allegations.

She also asks for the support of all in the district as they begin to rebuild a climate of trust and respect.