Tennessee school Superintendent Rick Smith asked for a buyout of his contract as outrage surrounds the sexual assault scandal involving basketball players during a holiday tournament. The Hamilton County District Attorney's Office charged three Tennessee high school officials on January 14 for failing to report the assault and sexual abuse done by the teammates of a basketball player.
Yahoo News reported that Smith said during Thursday's meeting with the Hamilton County School Board that the school system was more important than just a single person. The superintendent said that the controversy during the tournament in Gatlinburg December 22 was a tragedy. He said it will live with them and they will struggle with it, but he said the district would eventually get over it and heal.
Smith said he was surprised and disappointed. "I trust that we as school personnel are always going to do what's right and what's required of them. I hesitate to say much more about that because I don't know what's going to happen in the next few days or weeks. We'll see, and then we'll move forward from there," he said.
Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Robert Philyaw denied on Thursday motions to dismiss the charges against Ooltewah High officials; basketball coach Andre Montgomery, athletic director Allard Nayadley, and assistant coach Karl Williams. A preliminary hearing is scheduled on February 15.
According to the Seattle Times, the affidavit last week filed by the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office states that, "four freshmen basketball players were subjected to assaultive behavior including but not limited to being struck with pool cues and also these four freshman basketball players were subjected to apparent sexual assault."
The affidavit states the assault happen at a cabin while the basketball team of Ooltewah was part of the tournament in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Fox News wrote that the affidavit said, "one player required emergency surgery due to the injuries he received."
Gatlinburg Police charged three of the basketball players from Ooltewah with aggravated rape of one of their teammates, but there were no other charges announced. The names of the players who assaulted their teammates were not disclosed because they are still juveniles.
