Indianapolis- Six Lawrence North cheerleaders have lost their spots for a year after being implicated in a ritual hazing that parents say resulted in their daughters being smothered in a mush of food and then drenched with a water hose.

Lawrence Township officials, citing unspecified evidence, say they acted against a practice that until recently was only the subject of rumors.

“There was never any evidence or proof that this had happened,” said Assistant Superintendent Duane Hodgin, who met last week with parents upset about the hazing. “We had the proof this year. This ends now.”

Photos provided to The Indianapolis Star by a cheerleader’s parent show girls wearing blindfolds before being smothered with ketchup, olive oil and other food and then sprayed with a hose.

Those photos, combined with accounts from the parents of older girls who went through the same experience, compelled Lawrence Township officials to take action.

The six seniors who were kicked off the team for a year were also suspended for part of the football season last year for coming to a game under the influence of alcohol. Several other cheerleaders who joined in this year’s hazing received a lighter punishment of community service as first-time offenders.

Robert Hampton, whose daughter was subjected to hazing, was adamant about getting the word out that such behavior is inappropriate and possibly unlawful.

“If people wanted to, I think they’d be all right to file whatever charges they deemed necessary,” said Hampton, whose daughter was among the cheerleaders who were driven blindfolded to an isolated area at night and dropped off before being returned to the party where they were covered with food.

“What if somebody got hurt?” Hampton said of the scheme. “I was glad when I went to the conference and heard parents felt about it the way I did.”

Another parent of a cheerleader, one who was out of town in early July when the incident occurred, also complained to township officials.

“I’m glad they took action,” said Mark C. Wagner. “But I also think people need to know this is going on.”

One hazing expert questions Lawrence Township’s definition of hazing as conduct “against a person’s will.”

Franklin College professor Hank Nuwer, author of “The Hazing Reader” and three other books on hazing, said most victims agree to embarrassing and sometimes dangerous abuses as a demonstration of loyalty to a group or as a result of sheer peer pressure.

“While it may look entertaining, there’s this atmosphere of coercion.”