BRISTOLVILLE — A teacher at Bristol High School raised allegations of hazing involving members of the boys basketball team at Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting.

The victim’s mother alleged that during a skills camp held at the school in early June, her son, going into eighth grade this year, was physically assaulted by members of the high school team.

The victim was alleged to have been restrained against the wall and had his pants removed as members of the team attempted to assault him with chains, rope, mats and a massage gun.

According to the victim’s mother, this is a practice referred to by the team as “wrangling” that dates back an undetermined number of years. Other parents the family has spoken to have corroborated the story, but no one else has come forward that they are aware of.

The incident was stated to happen on June 4. School officials were informed of the issue, and a police report was filed six days later.

Bristol Superintendent Christopher Dray issued a statement on behalf of the school board following an executive session of the board’s regularly-scheduled June meeting.

“While the board does not comment on pending matters, the board takes all reported allegations seriously,” Dray said. “The board is aware of the reported allegations, which were immediately reported on to the appropriate individuals and are being addressed under applicable board policy and procedures.”

The victim’s mother stated that as soon as she was made aware of the incident, she informed the superintendent, principal Dan Collins, who is also on the program’s junior varsity coaching staff, athletic director Adam Crow and the boys basketball coaches.

She said that all that came from her informing the school was the closure of the “team room” inside the locker room and that she was waiting to hear from a Title IX lawyer.

“These young athletes have looked up to older players since they were in elementary school. These same young athletes who couldn’t wait to put on a high school jersey are now the same boys who feel violated and never want to step foot on the court again,” she said. “My child is athletic and loved playing ball. Those young men took that away from him, instead of mentoring him and helping him grow as a ball player. They terrified and abused him. They (took) away his love of the game.

“These young men knew what they were doing. They were organized enough to have a lookout and a code word at the door to notify that someone was coming. They call this abuse that they put others through wrangling. They have done this to countless young athletes. They knew the behavior was completely unacceptable, but didn’t care who they hurt and the damage they did. To do this to a teacher’s child, they have to have felt unstoppable, knowing their actions would be overlooked.”