Former high school soccer coach acquitted of hazing charges

The former soccer coach at Maine West High School in Des Plaines, Ill., has been found not guilty of hazing and battery charges. The Chicago Sun-Times says a judge also dismissed charges of failing to report alleged hazing, saying the abused child law used by prosecutors in their case against Michael Divincenzo does not apply to acts committed by students upon other students. Divincenzo had been accused of sanctioning a hazing culture among the soccer players he coached. Several current and former Maine West soccer players testified about the apparent cycle of hazing on the varsity team. But Divincenzo’s lawyers contended that he knew nothing about it.