SEVIER COUNTY – Three juvenile victims of sexual assault, including one whose injuries sent him to the hospital, testified against their older ex-basketball teammate as Sevier County Juvenile Court Judge Dwight Stokes weighed whether to charge the former Ooltewah Owls senior as an adult or keep the case in juvenile court.
Assistant District Attorney Rolfe Straussfogel called the rape of the boy, which occurred in a cabin during the basketball team’s trip to Gatlinburg, an “aggressive premeditated attack that resulted in horrific injuries.”
The prime victim in the case, who will not be named because he is a juvenile victim of sexual assault, testified that things did not get bad for him or the other freshman on the team until the defendant joined the basketball team from the football team a couple weeks into the season.
The defendant is charged with aggravated rape and aggravated assault for the injuries the victim sustained before being rushed to the hospital.
The defendant allegedly continued the team’s tradition of the “freshman rack,” where the older players beat the freshman players when they join the team, the three freshman testified.