One week after three Ooltewah High School (Tenn.) basketball players were were charged with aggravated rape and assault in a hazing incident involving a 15 year old freshmen teammate, WRCB in Chattanooga reported that Hamilton County School Superintendent has cancelled the remainder of the basketball season effective immediately.
A family member of the victim said he was “tortured by three of his teammates”, and was also, “beaten and sodomized by fellow teammates” with a wooden pool stick. He was taken to a local hospital the day after the incident when he collapsed as his colon and bladder were ruptured. He is expected to make a full recovery in two to three months, although “he is having nightmares. He has stated that he thought that he was going to die as a result of the assault.”
Since the incident was first reported, four other players have reported to the police that they too were assaulted. The player who was hospitalized was apparently treated more harshly because he “spoke up”. The student will enroll in another undetermined school in the area, according to a family member.
Two of the three boys that were arrested are still being held in a juvenile detention facility in Gatlinburg, Tennessee where the incident took place while the third was granted bond and released. All three have been suspended from school indefinitely. The status of the school’s head coach, Andre “Tank” Montgomery, is unknown.
The hazings were described by the victim to investigators as “a ritual for freshmen” and “something regularly done in the locker room”. Ooltewah students returned to classes for the first time since the incident yesterday.
Ooltewah is a wealthy suburb of Chattanooga and the high school is considered one of the better for athletics in the area.
Hat Tip to WRCB, the Times Free Press, and the Chattanoogan.
