The alleged incident happened at a Michigan Prep School. Classmates told the Post, Romney and others held down John Lauber, who was perceived to be gay and clipped his long, dyed-blonde hair with scissors. The paper recounted another incident in which Romney shouted "atta girl" to a different student at the all-boys' school who, years later, came out as gay.
Lauber was born in Chicago but grew up in South Bend, according to the Post.
"I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks during high school and some may have gone too far. And for that I apologize," Romney told Fox News during a radio interview.
Romney said he didn't remember the Lauber incident, but also didn't dispute that it happened. He stressed that he didn't know either student was gay and moved quickly to counter any suggestion he had targeted students because they were.
"That was the furthest thing from our minds back in the 1960s, so that was not the case," he said, adding that the students involved "didn't come out of the closet until years later."
Lauber died a few years ago, but his sister told ABC News he never told her of any incident. And she thinks if he were still alive today he would be furious about the story.
Lauber told ABC news with tears in her eyes these were kids and it happened a long time ago.
Additional information provided by the Associated Press
