PREP FOOTBALL Officials try to sort out saga

The community is located on Long Island's south shore.
BELLMORE, N.Y. (AP) -- While three football players remained suspended from the squad Friday as investigators sorted out allegations of sexual abuse at a preseason camp in Pennsylvania last month, a local lawmaker expressed confidence that high school officials will uncover the truth and safeguard students.
"People are shocked about the allegations," said David Denenberg, a Nassau County legislator whose district includes the Bellmore-Merrick school system. "We're certainly saddened and feel for the students who are affected."
Prosecutors and state police in Pennsylvania launched an investigation last week into accusations that members of the Mepham High School football team from Bellmore abused younger players while at Camp Wayne in Preston Park, Pa.
Wayne County District Attorney Mark R. Zimmer said authorities were looking into "what appears to be sexual abuse allegations in what is supposed to have been a hazing."
No arrests have been made, and prosecutors and school officials declined to comment on the specifics of the allegations. Newsday reported Friday that at least one of the victims was locked in a room by three older players who held him down and sodomized him with a broomstick.
The newspaper, citing a source close to the victim's family, said the boys initially were too ashamed to tell anyone what had happened, but eventually told their parents because two of them were still bleeding continuously.
Pennsylvania State Trooper Bill Satkowski said authorities opened a criminal investigation after receiving a call last weekend from the parent of one of the alleged victims. Members of the team's varsity squad are alleged to have sexually assaulted members of the junior varsity.
Two Pennsylvania troopers spent Thursday and Friday on Long Island interviewing people involved in the incident, Satkowski said.
He wouldn't describe the specific allegations, but said that if true, the perpetrators could be charged with sexual assault, and possibly tried as adults. He said a decision on charges was not expected until next week.
Sixty players and five coaches with the team, the Mepham Pirates, had gone for a five-day session at the camp to prepare for the season, which begins next weekend.
Bellmore-Merrick Superintendent Thomas J. Caramore said the coaches slept in a different cabin and had not known of any problems until a parent complained to the principal at the high school.
Caramore said three players had been suspended from the team during the investigation.
Statement
He did not return a call seeking comment on Friday, but issued a statement promising that "upon completion of the investigation, we will take appropriate action."
Denenberg, an attorney who was elected in 2000 after working for years as a community activist, said he had confidence in both the school administration and community, which is located on Long Island's south shore in central Nassau County.
"They're going to learn from this tragic incident and probably put educational safeguards in place to not only prevent this, but to show the students just how bad a situation this is," said Denenberg, who called the Bellmore-Merrick area a close-knit, civic-minded community.
"This is an intelligent community and I think people understand that they have to let the investigation happen and they have to work to minimize the harmful rumor mill."