Central students could face criminal charges following video of assault

The following story has been updated since its original posting.

A number of Cape Girardeau Central students have been disciplined after video surfaced showing them physically attacking another student.

School officials would not comment on identities of the students, how many were involved in the incident, the discipline handed down or whether the incident occurred on school property.

The brief video surfaced Friday afternoon and shows a victim on the ground, with a number of male students -- at least some masked -- over him. One of the attackers holds the victim's head as he grinds his clothed genital area into the victim's face.

"The situation surrounding the video has been investigated, and the students involved have been disciplined according to school policy," district officials said in an email statement. "Violence of any kind will not be tolerated on our campuses and any student caught participating in such behavior could face criminal charges [in addition to school discipline]."

Sgt. Joey Hann of Cape Girardeau Police Department confirmed authorities are investigating the matter.

"Our school resource officers were forwarded a video of an assault that occurred on school property...," he said. "Our SRO forwarded the report to our juvenile office to review the incident. We cannot disclose any more information as the victim and all of the suspects in this incident are juveniles."