The first indictment in the Ooltewah High School rape case was handed down Wednesday, as the Hamilton County Grand Jury indicted the school’s head basketball coach, Andre “Tank” Montgomery, on four counts of failing to report child sexual abuse.
Montgomery was chaperoning the boys’ basketball team just days before Christmas at a rental cabin in Gatlinburg, Tenn., when four boys were allegedly raped with pool sticks by three of their teammates, according to Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston. One 15-year-old was injured so severely he required emergency surgery.
According to previous court testimony, Montgomery never reported the incident to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, as required by law.
Failure to report child sexual abuse is a Class A misdemeanor in Tennessee and carries a sentence of up to 11 months, 29 days behind bars. Montgomery is scheduled to appear before Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Don Poole on June 3 for his arraignment, during which he is expected to plead “guilty” or “not guilty” to the charges.
If he pleads “not guilty,” his case will proceed through Criminal Court and could end in a trial, settlement or be dismissed.