Jay GreesonThe nightmare assaults in the camping lodge outside of Gatlinburg, Tenn., a few days before Christmas have been dogging the Hamilton County school system ever since.
The ripples reached a tsunami level, serving as the wave that overtook the top leadership of the school district.
There was a litany of issues, of course – facilities in disrepair, awful test scores, you name it – but the emotional charge for leadership change was fueled by our outrage about the sexual assaults involving four underage Ooltewah High School basketball players on a team trip.
Those ripples landed three Ooltewah coaches – athletic director Jesse Nayadley, who was at the tournament and has a son on the team, head basketball coach Andre “Tank” Montgomery and volunteer assistant Karl Williams – in court on charges of failing to report child abuse.
On Wednesday, Nayadley accepted D.A. Neal Pinkston’s offer of pretrial diversion. It’s a catchy legal term that means Nayadley gets a few hours of community service, takes a class or two and this will be wiped off his criminal record.