A Sevier County juvenile judge on Tuesday afternoon declined to order a former Ooltewah High School basketball player to be tried as an adult on rape and assault charges involving several freshman teammates.
Judge Dwight Stokes said Juvenile Court was much better able to rehabilitate the youth, who has since turned 18. He said the case will be tried in Juvenile Court, where the accused will face much less punishment than in Criminal Court.
He declined at this time to consider bond for the youth.
Judge Stokes said the senior had no prior juvenile record, and he said an evaluation by a non-biased expert was highly favorable toward him. He said the youth had cooperated with authorities from the start, as did his family.
He said it was a "very sad and tragic case" that had drawn international media attention. He said some social media "had gone berserk" and given the case "racist overtones."
The judge spoke highly of the victims, saying it appeared they were moving on with their lives.
He said that, due to the case, "the Ooltewah community was rocked to the core," with lingering implications for its staff, coaches and athletic department. He said it was alleged that the situation at the school "was out of control."
Judge Stokes said the case had brought much-needed attention to the issue of hazing and bullying in schools and called for the need for better training and oversight to help prevent it.
The judge also praised Gatlinburg detective Rodney Burns for "a thorough investigation." Detective Burns had been criticized in Chattanooga both by District Attorney Neal Pinkston and Juvenile Judge Rob Philyaw. DA Pinkston asked the TBI to investigate him related to his testimony in Chattanooga.
Earlier during the lengthy hearing, a freshman basketball player described being held down and having a pool cue inserted into his rectum by older team members at a Gatlinburg cabin..
The senior and two other older players on the team were charged with aggravated rape and assault.
Prosecutor Rolfe Straussfogel asked for the case to be sent to adult court "to send a message that this type of conduct will not be tolerated under any circumstances."
He said, "This conduct started out as hazing, but it escalated to bullying, putting these young kids in fear. It was bigger and stronger people putting weaker people in fear and culminating in rape."
The prosecutor added, "This is conduct that has to be deterred. It is hazing gone out of control."
Prosecutor Patrick Harrell said the senior "terrorized the other juveniles" and attacked the freshman who was badly injured "in an aggressive and pre-meditated manner." He called it "an horrific" attack.
Defense attorney Jeff Stern called it a "hazing freshman initiation" that had long gone on at Ooltewah High School. He said the serious injury was "completely unintended" and he said the senior was very remorseful.
He said the senior had no prior juvenile record and had undergone a psychological evaluation and psycho-sexual evaluation since his arrest.
Defense attorney Stern said the senior "didn't really intend for there to be any injury whatsoever."
He said, "It's the old cliché boys will be boys and it's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt."
The senior has been detained in Sevier County since five days after the Dec. 23 incident. The two other juveniles who were charged made bond.
Two other freshmen team members also testified during the morning session, as did the mother of the freshman who was seriously injured and underwent five hours of emergency surgery at UT Hospital in Knoxville..
The freshmen said they learned that first-year players at Ooltewah High would have to endure "the freshman rack." They said it included being punched in the locker room by older players with their fists.
They said at a tournament in Gatlinburg just before Christmas, the freshman players were thrown into a hot tub on the first day by the older players.
They said the senior later took a pool cue to the rectums of two of the other freshmen, while two older players held them down. The three players involved had joined the basketball team late after the football season was over.
It was testified that both freshmen squirmed and were yelling during the incidents, but no one came to their aid. The team coach, Andre Montgomery, and his wife and 11-year-old daughter were upstairs, it was stated.
Montgomery, assistant coach Karl Williams and athletic director Jesse Nayadley were charged with failure to report child abuse. Those misdemeanor cases are before the Hamilton County Grand Jury.
The incident's aftermath brought sharp criticism of Hamilton County Supt. Rick Smith, who has since left the school system and retired.
The player who was seriously injured said he had not gotten along with the senior and had been the lone freshman to fight him back. He said at the Gatlinburg cabin, he tried to keep away from him by locking the door when possible.
But he said when he was downstairs checking his phone, the three trapped him in the room. He said he tried to fight them off, as two held him down, and the senior forced the pool cue into his rectum. He said he continued to struggle and then fell onto the floor after the stick had been pushed inside him..
He said he began yelling loudly and the three boys ran from the room.
He said he noticed that he was bleeding and his pants had been torn.
The main victim said there had not been problems on the basketball team until the three football players came on board. He said, "They started hitting and punching us."
He said during the incident with the pool cue he kept hollering, "No. No. No."
He said of the pain, "It ain't no feeling I ever want to feel again." He said it made him "real, real mad."
The main victim said he tried to get cleaned up from the bloody incident, and he changed clothes before his coach took him to the LeConte Medical Center in Gatlinburg. He said he became concerned when he noticed he was urinating blood.
At the Gatlinburg facility, he said he was told he "should be alright" and was released.
However, he said he collapsed while gathering up his belongings at the cabin. Gatlinburg Det. Rodney Burns, who was at the cabin, then called for an ambulance. .
He said he spent six days in the hospital and had to use a catheter for two weeks after being released. He never went back to Ooltewah High, but is now attending another high school. He said he is about 90 percent recovered and is playing basketball again.
The main victim said he had never heard of such hazing at other schools - "just Ooltewah."
He said of the pool cue incident, "I didn't think they would do something like that. Why would you even think about doing something like that?"
The mother of the main victim said he was very excited about making the varsity at Ooltewah High.
She said she was at work when she got a call saying he had been hurt, but he indicated it was not serious. Then came another call from his coach saying he was in surgery. She said she and her mother then headed for the Knoxville hospital.
She said she was "worried and upset. I couldn't believe this was happening." She said when she learned what had occurred "I was horrified."
She said his bladder had been punctured and his rectum torn. She said the stick came very close to his colon.
She said her son "doesn't want to be a victim. He is very ashamed and embarrassed. It hurt his manhood."
She said he is undergoing counseling.
A second freshman who got the pool cue treatment said the freshmen "started getting beat" after the three football players joined the team. He said they would be struck with fists in the locker room.
He said the senior and the two boys who were holding him down were laughing during the incident at the cabin. He said he was screaming and trying to get away.
He told of walking into the room and finding the main victim. He said, "He was on the ground screaming and blood was dripping from his pants."
The freshman said, "It makes you feel weak. You know you can't do nothing about it. When you are a freshman, they're going to do something to you."
Another freshman who was similarly victimized said he heard about "the freshman rack" the summer prior to basketball season. He said, "You get hit on."
In his incident, he said the senior asked for a pool stick and then two others held him down. He said, "I was trying to get away. I was screaming."
Asked how it felt, he said, "It was not comfortable. It hurt mentally."
He said he witnessed the other freshman get the same treatment. He said, "He was screaming. He fell on the floor. He was trying to get away."
Det. Burns said one of those charged said when the stick was being used on the main victim that he reached for it to try to stop it from going in. But he said his hand slipped and the pool cue pushed forward through his clothes. He said it was an accident.
The detective said, "This started out as horseplay, but it ended as a serious rape and assault."
Scott Carter, a youth minister at First Baptist Church of Sevierville, said the senior asked to speak with him after Sunday services at the juvenile facility. He said he "showed great remorse over his situation and the hurt that happened. There was a lot of regret, a lot of hurt."
He called the senior "a gentleman in every respect. I believe that his heart is not wicked."
The senior's aunt said when she was told of the incident "I was surprised that boys were so silly and stupid."
A woman who said the senior dates her daughter said he had visited a number of colleges and was looking forward to playing basketball in college.
Donell Cochran, a former Ooltewah High basketball player who has been keeping the books for the current team, said the senior was always respectful to him.
He said he was "not aware of any hazing" on the Ooltewah basketball team.