Ooltewah coaches charged for failing to report sexual assault of four players

Detective says adults failed to report the alleged rape as required by law

Ooltewah head coach Tank Montgomery yells instructions to his team. The season has since been cancelled, and Montgomery is one of three adults charged with violating the Tennessee law that requires mandatory reporting of child abuse or suspected child sexual abuse.
Ooltewah head coach Tank Montgomery yells instructions to his team. The season has since been cancelled, and Montgomery is one of three adults charged with violating the Tennessee law that requires mandatory reporting of child abuse or suspected child sexual abuse.
photo Ooltewah High School is photographed on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015, near Chattanooga, Tenn.

Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston has filed charges against three adults in connection with the alleged rape of an Ooltewah boys basketball player by three juvenile teammates.

The criminal complaint reveals a far broader assault than authorities had previously announced.

Today, Pinkston charged basketball coach Andre "Tank" Montgomery, Karl Williams and Allard "Jesse" Nayadley with violating the Tennessee law that requires mandatory reporting of child abuse, or suspected child sexual abuse.

Williams is an assistant coach for the basketball team, and Nayadley is the athletic director for Ooltewah High School.

According to court records, detectives found that these three adults were made aware that four freshmen basketball players were assaulted during the team's trip to Gatlinburg, Tenn., and failed to report this to authorities.

"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," wrote Mickey Roundtree, a detective with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

"I was informed by the Department of Children's Services that no one within the Ooltewah High School administration, coaching staff, or other staff ever notified the Department of Children's Services of this incident," Roundtree wrote.

Not only did the coaching staff fail to report the assault, no one in the Hamilton County Department of Education reported the assault either, Roundtree said.

Melydia Clewell, spokeswoman for the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office, said the three adults are scheduled to appear before Juvenile Court Judge Rob Philyaw Thursday.

They are expected to be formally booked into the Hamilton County jail sometime prior to this appearance, Clewell said.

Pinkston filed the charges in Hamilton County Juvenile Court, and ordered the court to make the affidavits public record "due to the legitimate and overwhelming public interest that exists in this matter."

An attorney for Montgomery did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hamilton County schools Superintendent Rick Smith transferred Montgomery to the textbook depository Monday, and said at the time he did not want anyone to think Montgomery was being punished or penalized by the move.

After canceling the team's basketball season last week, Smith said the decision was not a reflection on the coaching staff, adding that law enforcement had found no evidence that any of the adults chaperoning the team's trip to Gatlinburg acted inappropriately.

Records from Sevier County Juvenile Court state that two 16-year-olds and a 17-year-old raped a 15-year-old freshman with a pool cue, causing extensive internal injuries that required surgery. The three teens face charges of aggravated assault and aggravated rape and were dismissed from the team and will not be allowed to return to the school.

The Hamilton County Board of Education meets tonight at 5 p.m. to discuss school board policies related to the assault. A public forum is scheduled to begin immediately following this meeting.

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