Central Catholic Lawsuits: Hazing Claims, Defense, and Investigations

Central Catholic High School, an all-boys Marianist school in San Antonio, is defending two civil lawsuits alleging that varsity soccer players sexually hazed, bullied, and assaulted younger students while administrators failed to intervene. The first Central Catholic hazing lawsuit was filed on July 3, 2025, by the parents of a 15-year-old freshman; a second suit, brought by a different former student, followed on October 31, 2025. Each family seeks at least $1 million. The school denies the allegations, and as of late 2025 the San Antonio and Round Rock police investigations remain open with no criminal charges publicly announced.¹

What the Garcia Family Alleges

Carlos and Christina Garcia filed a 36-page petition in Bexar County state district court through attorney Jesse E. Guerra Jr. The complaint says their son, a freshman on Central Catholic’s state championship soccer team, was subjected to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and indecent exposure by three older teammates over roughly four months beginning in January 2025.¹

According to the suit, teammates repeatedly locked the freshman in a chain-link storage enclosure in the locker room that players called “the cage.” In one alleged incident, two players held him down while a third pressed his erect penis against the victim’s face as another student recorded video. Other episodes described in the complaint involve a teammate touching the victim while threatening to ejaculate on him, and forcing him to look at an exposed, erect penis.¹

The suit names Principal Lee Hernandez, Athletic Director Edward Ybarra, and Head Soccer Coach Bartholomew Valerio, along with three teammates identified as minors. The Garcias claim administrators “looked the other way” because the accused players were star athletes or connected to school staff, and that officials did not report the abuse to police or Child Protective Services as Texas law requires. The petition characterizes the environment as “hazing on steroids” and accuses the school of marketing a “brotherhood” while concealing bullying and violence.²³

What the Second Lawsuit Adds

The October 2025 case, also brought by Guerra, involves a different plaintiff who attended Central Catholic as a freshman in 2021. He alleges he was groped in a school bathroom and beaten by other students, and that the school did nothing despite repeated complaints. His father, according to the complaint, went to the school roughly 30 times to report the abuse.⁴

Court filings say the student needed treatment at a hospital and psychiatric facilities for depression and anxiety tied to the alleged trauma. The defendants are the school, Principal Lee Hernandez, Dean of Students Daniel McCarthy, and teacher Charles Delgado. The family seeks $1 million and a jury trial. In response, Central Catholic notes the student withdrew from the school in 2023 and denies the claims.⁴

How the School Is Fighting the Case

On September 26, 2025, Central Catholic moved to dismiss the Garcia lawsuit. Its core argument is that “many of the Texas Education Code provisions cited in the lawsuit do not apply to private schools.”⁵ The Texas Education Code’s anti-hazing chapter, however, defines “educational institution” to include both public and private high schools.⁶

Guerra called the motion a “desperate attempt” to “silence and bully” his clients. He also alleged the school had refused to make personnel available for depositions and had not permitted an inspection of the locker room, which he said “has been altered.” He expected the school to appeal any denial in order to delay the case.⁷⁵⁸

Where the Criminal Investigations Stand

The San Antonio Police Department opened an investigation on April 30, 2025, after a parent reported allegations of indecency with a child. SAPD’s initial summary said that “on multiple different occasions throughout the last several months, the suspect has indecently exposed himself to the victim.”⁹ Because some of the alleged conduct occurred at a state soccer tournament in Round Rock in March 2025, Round Rock police are also investigating alongside SAPD.¹⁰

Child Protective Services is involved, and the child advocacy organization ChildSafe has conducted a forensic interview of the Garcia family’s son. Guerra has said the ChildSafe interviewers “verified what my clients’ son endured” and that neither ChildSafe nor police treated the account as exaggerated or false.⁹⁷

Both departments have withheld incident reports, citing risk to their active investigations, and each has asked the Texas Attorney General’s Office to keep the records confidential. Round Rock’s counsel argued the material “relates to an investigation into criminal charges.” No arrests, indictments, or grand jury proceedings have been publicly announced.¹⁰

The pool of accusers has grown. At least five students have come forward, including a current student, a former student, and two students from other schools who say they experienced hazing, bullying, or sexual harassment tied to Central Catholic.¹¹

What the School Has Done Internally

Central Catholic says it opened an internal investigation on April 29, 2025, the same day the freshman first reported the abuse to administrators. School President Jason Longoria said the school “took immediate action” and cooperated with law enforcement, adding that “bullying, hazing, and harassment have no place at Central Catholic and are not tolerated.”¹²

The internal review produced these outcomes:

One senior was expelled and barred from graduating.
A second student in a lower grade was expelled and barred from re-enrolling.
Three additional students received unspecified “appropriate disciplinary actions.”

The school said it enforced its Student Code of Conduct without waiting on law enforcement.¹³

In June 2025, the Board of Directors retained the firm JCA Law, PLLC to conduct an independent investigation of the allegations and staff conduct.¹⁴ The school said faculty or staff could be placed on administrative leave to protect the integrity of the review, but available reporting does not confirm any specific leave or termination. The JCA Law findings have not been made public.¹¹ Responding directly to the Garcia suit, the Board said Central Catholic “strenuously denies the plaintiff’s claim of negligence and other allegations against Central Catholic and its administration and staff, which do not reflect the facts of this case.”³

How Texas Hazing Law Applies to a Private School

Texas Education Code Chapter 37, Subchapter F makes hazing a criminal offense. The statute reaches anyone who engages in hazing, solicits or encourages it, recklessly permits it, or fails to report firsthand knowledge of an incident. Consent of the victim is not a defense.¹⁵

Penalties scale with harm:

Failing to report hazing: Class B misdemeanor, up to six months in jail and up to a $2,000 fine.
Hazing without serious bodily injury: Class B misdemeanor.
Hazing causing serious bodily injury: Class A misdemeanor, up to one year in jail and up to a $4,000 fine.
Hazing causing death: state jail felony, six months to two years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine.

The statute’s definition of “educational institution” covers private high schools, which is the ground on which Guerra is challenging the school’s motion to dismiss.⁶

1
San Antonio Express-News. Central Catholic Hazing Sexual Assault Lawsuit
2
KSAT. Central Catholic Administrators, Teammates Sued Over Alleged Hazing of Former Soccer Player
3
News 4 San Antonio. Million Dollar Hazing on Steroids Lawsuit Filed Against Central Catholic
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KSAT. Central Catholic Faces New Lawsuit Alleging Student Was Groped, Bullied at School
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San Antonio Express-News. Central Catholic Lawsuit Bullying Abuse Student
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Baylor University. Education Code Chapter 37, Subchapter F: Hazing
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BishopAccountability.org. Parents Sue Central Catholic
8
Yahoo News. Investigation Into Prestigious San Antonio School
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San Antonio Express-News. Central Catholic Sexual Assault Soccer Team
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San Antonio Express-News. Sexual Hazing Central Catholic SAPD Non-Disclosure
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San Antonio Report. Sexual Hazing Allegations Invite Scrutiny of Central Catholic High School
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KSAT. Man Says Central Catholic Soccer Player Put Genitals on Son’s Face Amid Months of Bullying
13
Central Catholic High School. Message From the Central Catholic Board of Directors and School President
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Central Catholic High School. Independent Investigation Announcement
15
FindLaw. Texas Education Code Section 37.152 – Personal Hazing Offense