Mock 'gangbang' schoolboys apologise

19 October 2015 - 09:44 By MATTHEW SAVIDES

Reckless, inappropriate and irresponsible. This is how the five Hilton College schoolboys have described their actions after their mock "gang bang" picture went viral and provoked a massive backlash last week. In an apology posted on Facebook on Saturday, the boys said they were "seriously embarrassed".In the picture, posted on Instagram on Tuesday, one of the boys is dressed as a St Anne's Diocesan College schoolgirl and has "her" head in the crotch of another boy.Another boy is simulating sex from behind, while two others stand looking provocatively into the camera. The picture appears to have been taken in a classroom.On Friday, in a brief statement on its website, the elite private school - whose annual fees are more than R200 000 - said the five boys had been suspended while a disciplinary process ran its course.The boys said on Facebook: "We would like to sincerely apologise for our error in judgment with the inappropriate photograph, taken on Tuesday October 13 2015. We are seriously embarrassed, and deeply regret this incident and the impact on the Hilton College and St Anne's communities. Our families are devastated due to our actions."The picture was "intended as a joke between friends. But [this] was a gross misjudgment. This was an act born out of ignorance, not malice, and we certainly never meant to cause offense [sic]) or for the photograph to be interpreted in the manner in which it has [been]."..

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