Reedsburg Football Team Amish : Reedsburg Football canceled its opening two games of the season after being among nine charged with disorderly conduct by football players.
New details have emerged in an alleged harassment case of the Sauk County Amish community that resulted in the school district of Reedsburg canceling the opening two games of the varsity high school football season after players were cited for disorderly conduct.
According to a redacted incident report shared with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in response to an open records request, nine teenage girls were cited for disorderly conduct in connection with a traffic stop near La Valle in Sauk County. Deputies with the Sauk County Sheriff’s Department were patrolling the area on the night of August 11, responding to reports of Amish communities in the area experiencing harassment in the form of groups of teenage girls from fireworks, flashing houses with lights, honking horns and walking on properties. And knocking on doors and windows.
“At about 10:19 p.m., deputies stopped a diesel truck” “rolling coal” “and a pursuit sedan in the area they were patrolling in response to previous reports and made contact with a teenage passenger, who the report describes as” “invisibly nervous.” “” After the depot explained their reason for patrolling the area, a deputy asked the passenger about the used firework container and empty beer cans in the open bed of the truck.
After initially denying possession of any other firework materials, one of the teens produced a handful of bottle rockets. Another discovery of the truck by the depot also produced a smoke bomb and a black face mask. The incident report said Amish’s prior reports indicated the use of a smoke bomb on his property and individuals seen in black face masks.
The incident report includes other sub contacts made with teenage girls in the days after August 11, whose names have also been redacted, with some admitting to being out on August 9, the 10th and 11th. One of the teenagers claimed to be under “peer pressure” by others to indulge in the alleged harassment. Another admitted to being involved, saying they and others knew “the Amish didn’t have cameras” and were “an easy target.”
According to the incident report, a parent contacted on Aug. 24 regarding the investigation expressing her displeasure with the school district.
In a press release issued on August 27, the School District of Reedsburg admitted to including members of the football program among the nine cited for their alleged involvement. The district has also acknowledged that two varsity football games (Aug. 23 at River Valley and Aug. 30 at DeForest) were canceled with the alleged conduct of members of the program. The statement reads in part:
“It is an understatement to say that we were disappointed to learn of the allegations against students enrolled in the district and participating in our athletic program. Please understand that not all students involved in the football program were involved in these incidents. The alleged behavior is inconsistent with our values in the district, and is not reflective of our school community as a whole. ”
The statement also details that the district does not publicly comment on, nor share, disciplinary information in compliance with state and federal laws, as well as district policy. The Reedsburg school district did not respond to an additional request for comment.
Also in the Sauk County Sheriff’s Department statement from Tuesday, the department confirmed that it has confirmed the following activities in its investigation:
The air horns are being blown out of the remains
Lighting is being put on the exterior of the dwellings
The doorbell rings during the hours of darkness
“The Sauk County Sheriff’s Office is aware of several other alleged behaviors that were rumored to be taking place” “knocking on exterior windows during the hours of darkness.” “” The statement concluded that these reports have been investigated, and at this time they were found to be unsatisfactory.
The football team plays in the Mississippi Valley Conference. The team went 1-8 last season and 0-7 in the conference.
Reedsburg is located about 16 miles southwest of Wisconsin Dells.
