The juvenile court trial for the three Tennessee high school basketball players charged with rape has been rescheduled with a new date. The rape case involves a 17 year old from Ooltewah High School who had sexually assaulted a member of the basketball team along with other two players on December in a Gatlinburg cabin.
According to ABC News, the Tennessee high school rape case juvenile court trial will be held in March 15. The three defendants will remained unnamed as they are juveniles. The previous date of the said trial in Sevier County was scheduled last week, however the new date was announced on Monday.
Andre Montgomery, Ooltewah basketball team's coach along with the assistant coach, Karl Williams and the Athletic director Allard Nayadley was also charged by the Hamilton County officials for not reporting the alleged rape and assault.
Three juvenile players of the basketball team is facing the charges of aggravated rape and aggravated assault on the 15-year-old student. ESPN also reported, following the rape case, the team's season was also postponed by the Hamilton County superintendent, Rick Smith. The filed charges against the coach along with the other two was based on the Tennessee law which states, "mandatory reports of child abuse, apparent child sexual abuse or child sexual abuse."
The high school basketball team rented on a cabin for December 19-23 basketball tournament in Gatlinburg. It is two hours away from Chattanooga, cabin has five bedrooms, two upstairs as well as three downstairs. The alleged rape happened when Montgomery and Williams were in the rental cabin.
One student player claim their coaches were upstairs doing a cleaning when they heard the freshman victom screamed in pain. William was the first one to check out what happened. The Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston said the coaches discovered the freshman victim covered in blood, urine and feces.
Court documents stated that the 17 year old player sodomized the 15 year old teammate with a pool stick while two players, both 16 years old held him down, according to CNN News. The boy was rush into a hospital in Knoxville and underwent surgery. He had emergency surgery to repair damage to several internal organs and remove the tip of the pool cue.
Williams, Montgomery and Nayadley have been suspended without pay. If they ultimately plead guilty, they can be fined no more than $2,500. A not-guilty plea would send the case before a grand jury.
