For decades, school leaders at Ooltewah Middle and High schools have turned a blind eye.
Warning signs of abuse have been overlooked. Reports and suspicions of inappropriate behavior have gone unaddressed. And children have been left vulnerable and unprotected, according to school and court records, employees and former students.
Just days after Christmas, news surfaced about the rape of an Ooltewah High School freshman – two 16-year-olds held down a 15-year-old teammate as a 17-year-old raped him with a pool cue, according to court records. The three teens face charges of aggravated rape and aggravated assault, and two of their coaches and the school’s athletic director are charged with failing to report the attack to authorities. The men are scheduled to appear in court Monday.
Reports of the assault grabbed national headlines, stirring outrage and disgust.
But for others, accounts of the rape brought back memories they’d been working for years to forget, a burden they didn’t want any other kid to carry.