The Butler County Prosecutor, Mike Gmoser, confirmed to The Miami Student that his office is investigating the Delta Tau Delta (Delts) brothers who were identified by Miami University as participating in the alleged hazing of a new member on March 16. Gmoser is considering charging the students with a felony.
"Miami just completed their review of this matter," Gmoser said. "I am continuing the investigation in my office. I hope to have it completed sooner rather than later, and that's where we're at, at this point. The issue is presently under consideration for the potential of felony conduct, a felony type of assault, and, also, hazing, which is a misdemeanor."
Miami's director of news and communications Claire Wagner said criminal investigations against individual students are not out of the ordinary for cases of this nature.
"Any time a Miami student is investigated for violating the university code of conduct, the police can also take civil or criminal action," Wagner said. "Those are the other avenues for consequences."
The criminal investigation into individual students' conduct comes after Miami charged the fraternity and a number of its individual brothers.
The entire fraternity was charged with three Code of Student Conduct violations: endangering health and safety, hazing and intoxication or prohibited use of liquor. Neither the number of individual students who were charged by the university nor the charges they face have been made public due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
Both Delts and the individual students who have been charged by Miami are undergoing the appeals process for their cases. If their appeals are lost, the fraternity faces permanent dismissal from campus.
At the time of this report, no criminal charges have been filed against any individuals involved in the Delts hazing incident.
News Editor Erin Glynn contributed reporting to this story.
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