Four of the five Juanita High School football players charged with second-degree attempted rape pleaded not guilty at the King County Juvenile Court in Seattle Friday. The fifth defendant’s arraignment was moved to Monday because his attorney was unavailable.

The five students, all former freshman on the high school football program’s C-team, are accused by the King County Prosecutor’s Office of attempting to sodomize an 18-year-old special-needs student with an object on Oct. 22 in the high school boy’s locker room. One of the students is also accused of filming the incident and then later deleting the footage.

As part of their arraignment, the suspects have been placed on 24-hour surveillance and are forbidden to have unsupervised access to the Internet. They are also forbidden to have any contact with the alleged victim or come within 500 feet of the school or his residence.

While the news of the alleged incident has shocked the Kirkland community, defense attorneys for the suspects tried to downplay the severity of the incident. Addressing the judge prior to the arraignments, one attorney said the media has “portrayed it as something it’s not.”

Another attorney during the arraignment of their client described the alleged incident as a “football hazing case.” The suspects are alleged to have assaulted the victim in an attempt to “jubie” him, a slang term referring to a hazing act known to football players. During the follow-up investigation, police discovered one of the suspects sent out a text to the other four prior to the attempted rape saying they were “gonna jubie” the victim.

The same defense attorney objected to restrictions on their client, prohibiting contact with juveniles two years younger, which he said are similar to those imposed on sex offenders, as well as aspects of a renewal of a sexual assault protection order. The victim, he told the judge, has already filed a civil no-contact order against them.

The attorney also sought to lower restrictions so that their client, a 15-year-old attending another school in the Lake Washington School District, could play sports, during which he said his client and the alleged victim are “probably going to cross paths.”

The judge told the juvenile suspect he could play sports but if the victim happened to be at the same game, “you don’t play. Them’s the breaks.”

All of the suspects were expelled in November after they were arrested and given an emergency expulsion the day after the alleged assault occurred. While one of the suspects attends a LWSD school, another is attending a high school in Kent.

One suspect has not been able to enroll in a new school due to the allegations.

Three of the defendants have their next hearing March 26, while one suspect’s set for March 19. A case resolution is scheduled in May.