Three former Ooltewah High School basketball players left the Sevier County Courthouse in handcuffs Tuesday, convicted in connection with the pool-cue rape of their freshman teammate.
An 18-year-old, who was 17 at the time of the incident, was found guilty of aggravated rape and aggravated assault, and two boys who were 16 at the time of the rape were convicted of aggravated assault, according to two people inside the courtroom.
“It’s an incredibly sad day for all the young men involved here,” said Eddie Schmidt, an attorney for the main victim, who was severely injured.
During the basketball team’s trip to Gatlinburg, Tenn., just days before Christmas 2015, older teammates assaulted four freshmen with pool cues. The last freshman to be assaulted was injured so severely he had to be rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery to repair his bladder and rectum, according to previous court testimony.
Following the verdict, Schmidt said it became clear sitting through the testimony that the team’s coaches were clueless, didn’t care or implicitly encouraged what happened.