School Board Attorney Says Gatlinburg Detective Told Him Ooltewah High Rape Incident Was "Horseplay Gone Wrong"

County School Board Attorney Scott Bennett said Thursday that Gatlinburg Detective Rodney Burns told him in a Jan. 4 phone call that the Ooltewah High rape incident was "horseplay gone wrong" and that it was "blown out of proportion by the media."

He said the detective, who is now under investigation by the TBI related to his testimony in Hamilton County Juvenile Court, also said county school officials should take no steps to investigate the matter because the Juvenile judge in Sevier County had put down a gag order.

Attorney Bennett said, "I took him at his word. I didn't ask to see a copy of the judge's order." It turned out later there was no gag order, and county school officials were sharply criticized for remaining mum about the incident in which a 15-year-old basketball team member had a pool cue inserted into his rectum and was seriously injured. Supt. Rick Smith afterward asked the school board to buy out his contract.

The attorney said the detective also told him "that there was no evidence that any Hamilton County School employee had done anything wrong."

Also, he said Detective Burns, "who was rather upset that I was calling," said that "things were evolving in the case and some witnesses were changing their stories." He said he wanted the county schools to back off.

Attorney Bennett said he soon learned "that District Attorney (Neal) Pinkston took a very different view of this situation," including bringing failure to report charges against two Ooltewah High coaches and the athletic director. Those charges have been sent to the Hamilton County Grand Jury by Juvenile Judge Rob Philyaw. 

The attorney said, "I deeply regret that I called Investigator Burns on Jan. 4. There hasn't been a day go by since then that have not regretted calling him."

He said school officials had been set to start their own probe of the incident, including interviewing staff on Jan. 4 and students on Jan. 5.

Attorney Bennett said the county schools, in light of the incident in which three other basketball team members were similarly assaulted, is now obligated under state and federal law to carry out a compliance review.

He said, "We have an obligation to figure out what happened and why as well as how we can prevent it from happening in the future."

Attorney Bennett said the victim was quickly taken for medical care and the perpetrators were charged. But he said the next step is to examine whether there is a "culture of bullying and hazing" at Ooltewah High School.

It was testified at Juvenile Court that similar "hazing" has been going on for years at Ooltewah High and that other incidents include beating teammates in dark locker rooms.

Attorney Bennett said school officials denied knowing of such a culture at OHS. He said if the court testimony was true "this culture exists and school officials didn't know about it."

He said a compliance review would deal with "how are our policies affecting the life and health of the students at Ooltewah High School" and if the regulations are filtering down to the students.

He stated, "You can have a 100-page document, but if it's not made real to the students, it doesn't do any good."

Attorney Bennett said the probe would seek "to figure out why something like this that should never have been tolerated was tolerated."

He said he had been seeking to locate an individual who both could gather facts about the situation at OHS and also provide "a schematic for reporting and responding and fold these lessons learned out to the district."

Attorney Bennett said the cost range may be $20,000 to $30,000 or, for some, as high as $40,000 to $50,000.

He said he will bring a recommendation to the board next month.