Autistic HS Soccer Player Duct Taped to Goalpost

Autistic HS Soccer Player Duct Taped to Goalpost

A Harrison Township, Pennsylvania, high school soccer coach, and several varsity competitors, have been suspended after players duct taped an autistic teammate to a practice-field goalpost in a hazing ritual on Sunday.

“They duct taped my hands, my legs, all the way up to my waist,” Austin Babinsack told Pittsburgh’s KDKA, “and then they attempted to try to take a picture of it. I told them no, and they walked off disappointed.”

The 16-year-old boy stayed stuck to the goalpost for approximately 15 minutes. A woman passing by heard him crying and screaming. She called police.

“He was bawling,” his mother explained. “He was terrified.”

The boy attended the Highlands High School soccer game the next evening, when teammates called him a “snitch.” Babinsack reluctantly quit the team after enduring the insults after the initial injury.

The mother, who says she broke down when her son boarded his school bus on Wednesday, relays that the boy took great pride in his association with the soccer team.

“There’s a sweat suit they all have with their name and numbers,” the abused player’s mom tells Pittsburgh’s WPXI. “He wears that to bed. He wears it every weekend.”

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