An amended civil lawsuit against Ursuline High School, its administration, the school's football coaches, the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown and 11 football players was filed late Monday in Federal court.

The amended filing updates the suit filed early September by the Chandra Law Firm of Cleveland after an alleged hazing that took place in June on a multi-state football team trip.

The latest filing adds a new plaintiff to the case, joining the first filing on behalf of Jane Doe, Son Doe and Daughter Doe.

The new plaintiff is John and Jill Roe, and Son Roe of Trumbull County, who has since transferred to another district.

Four additional victims are also listed in the updated complaint.

The updated filing adds additional locations where the alleged hazing occurred, including Alabama, Indiana, and Wisconsin, to the previous states of Ohio, Florida and Tennessee.

"Central to this amended complaint is the idea that coaches and administrators have been on notice for a long time, four plus years, that there was a hazing culture," Chandra said, "That's what players who were participants who have confessed are now describing that they believe that this was part of a culture, part of a tradition. It was something they openly discussed in front of coaches." 

The filing claims Son Doe was a victim of hazing, child porn, tampering of evidence, tampering with records, obstructing justice, culpable negligence, child neglect, and failure to report abuse; and other state-law civil claims for negligent supervision of children; negligent and reckless hiring, training, supervision, and retention; disseminating intimate images, assault; battery; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and spoliation.

The filing also lists multiple witnesses who have come forward since the first lawsuit was filed.

The new plaintiff Son Roe was alleged to have been hazed during a football camp trip in 2024 in Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin.

The amended suit claims alleged criminal acts like hazing and failure to report abuse and other state-law civil claims for negligent and reckless hiring, training, supervision, and retention happened to the second victim.

It also says several of the football players in this hazing event have come forward expressing regret for their role in the incident and sharing allegations of "actions and inactions of Ursuline officials and coaches."

According to the court document, players have also provided information that claims that the Ursuline “culture of violence” and “tradition” of hazing wasn’t an isolated event, but has persisted for years with coaches’ knowledge.

The complaint alleges that after an attack during a trip in 2022, the parents of the victim notified Athletic Director John DeSantis, who went on to notify Coach Daniel Reardon. However, the complaint claims that neither official took any action to address the alleged hazing.

DeSantis is now being added to the suit as a defendant, according to the filing.

The filing says hazing has been part of these trips in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, and provided additional videos from the team's Snapchat account by players.

Of the new victims listed, Victim 1 was a student and claims to have been sexually harassed and reported it to school officials, but claims the school took no action. Her mother reported an alleged attack of her daughter who was drug across the turf by an Ursuline football player.

Victim 2 was an Ursuline football player and was allegedly hazed during a 2022 camp trip, which included him being stomped, kicked, punched and choked by other football team members. The attack was recorded and posted to the Snapchat account.

Victim 3 was an Ursuline student who claims to have been harassed and bullied by several Ursuline football players on the basis of sex, and her grandmother reported the alleged incident to the Assistant Principal and said no action was taken.

Victim 4 was an Ursuline student whose mother reported that another student wanted to fight her child, and allegedly reported the threat to the assistant principal. Her child was seriously injured in the fight and had to be taken to the hospital, the filing says.

Victims 1 through 4 all claim the school took no action.

The amended filing lists, in graphic description, content from the videos from students' social media accounts. 

One video showed a victim on his knees, players ordered him to repeat ”Please don’t beat my ass” and “I’ll do whatever you need.” When the victim refused, players stomped, kicked, and punched the victim repeatedly. Players wrapped a sheet/towel over the victim’s head and throat and proceeded to choke and swing him around. Another player then puts his buttocks on the victim’s head/face.

Another video from 2023 is alleged to show a player holding a victim down on the bus floor while humping and grinding his genitalia into the victim's buttocks. 

Additional videos from 2023 are alleged to show a victim naked, covering himself with his hands, and additional videos of players holding ripped underwear and one of a player having his underwear ripped off in a hallway of a hotel, exposing the victim's genitalia and buttocks. 

There were more videos as well from 2025 with similar actions, the filing claims. 

The complaint alleges that Ursuline High School Principal Matthew Sammartino instructed players involved in the alleged hazing to "delete" any evidence from their phones and ordered them not to say anything.

"What the complaint is alleging is really gross irresponsibility in Ursuline administrators' handling of the case, including the diocese," Chandra said, "The diocese is now added as a co-defendant in many of the claims."

The amended filing is 290 pages in total.

"I think this is really important for the public to understand, and we hope that additional victims and witnesses will come forward, is we've repeatedly seen the diocese and the school give public statements, including in response to this amended complaint, repeating the same thing, falsely claiming that they investigated. They did not," Chandra added, "They suspended a couple of players pending investigation, but they didn't actually investigate, and instead, finally, in June of 2025, reported this allegedly to law enforcement, but did not do any investigation before returning those players to the field. Only after the lawsuit was filed did they suspend coaches. So that false mantra, repeatedly, 'we did what we were supposed to do, we investigated,' is simply untrue."

Ursuline High School issued the following response for comment on the amended lawsuit:

We are reviewing the second amended complaint with our legal counsel.

As with the allegations previously raised, these latest allegations are extremely upsetting. No students or their parents should have to deal with such challenges, and we will continue to cooperate with any investigating authorities. Indeed, Ursuline timely opened an internal investigation, which included reporting the alleged conduct to child services in two counties and the Youngstown police department, interviewing students alleged to be involved in the conduct, and issuing discipline consistent with our code of conduct.

UHS then provided all documents it possessed at that time regarding its internal investigation to the Youngstown police department pursuant to subpoenas from the Youngstown police.

As with the previous allegations, we have no intention of trying these cases in the media or in public. We will allow the legal process to proceed to accord proper respect and due process for all parties involved. Unfortunately, that means we continue to be limited in what we can share publicly given the privacy issues involved and the fact we are facing active litigation.

The safety of all students must be paramount. We continue to pray for all the people who have been affected by these allegations.

Given the sensitivity of the ongoing situation and the requirements of the legal and investigative process we cannot comment further.

The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown has disputed the allegations made in the suit in our previous reporting of the allegations against the school and its staff. 

RELATED STORIES