Andy Warhol said that life imitates art and I always thought that was so true. I've become addicted to a current show called American Crime, and on this season, a basketball player gets "hazed" on a trip where several of his team mates rape and assault him.
And it looks like, sadly, life has done what it does so often: imitated art.
Three Ooltewah basketball players were charged with aggravated rape and aggravated assault after a hazing incident at an away game in Gatlinburg,TN. Kobe Jones, Jerod Bibbs, and Joseph Norwood allegedly assaulted the victim by raping him with a pool cue causing severe rectal damage, and needing surgery. Reports say that the victim was held down by two of the players while the third assaulted him with the pool cue.
According to Gatlinberg police, the assault allegedly occured in a rental cabin, and other reports, one from the victims Grandmother, stated there were no parents or adults around when the attack took place.
This information comes from the court petition:
"Your petitioner, Detective Rodney Burns of Gatlinburg Police Department respectfully represents to the court on information and belief that [name redacted], a child not within this county and 16/17 years of age is a delinquent child within the meaning of the law of the state of Tennessee in that said child in or about the 28th day of December 2015 did commit Aggravated Rape TCA 39-13-502. On 12/22/15, the defendant did assist in forcing and hold the victim down while another defendant took a pool cue stick and forced it into the rectum gland. The victim required hospitalization for several days at UTMC. The incident occurred at the rental cabin located at 508 Laurel Mountain Drive in Gatlinburg, TN."
Quoting directly from the court petition on the 17-year-old suspect:
"Your petitioner, Detective Rodney Burns of Gatlinburg Police Department respectfully represents to the court on information and belief that [name redacted], a child not within this county and 16/17 years of age is a delinquent child within the meaning of the law of the state of Tennessee in that said child in or about the 28th day of December 2015 did commit Aggravated Rape TCA 39-13-502. On 12/22/15, the defendant did take pool cue stick and force it into the rectum of the victim, causing serious injuries to repair his bladder, rectum, and prostate gland."
We have a situation here that borders on sociopathic behavior, sexual deviancy and and having friends in the area, this was practically shoved under the rug. I get the feeling that if certain people would have had their ways, it would have been hush hushed,and it's only going to get worse. And God forbid, I can't imagine it doing so.
This case is happening where I live, and it's so heartbreaking and disturbing. There are major cover ups underway in this case, and I cringe to think of what we don't know. Here's what we do know....a freshman player was raped by one of his fellow teammates...a senior. 2 sophomores held the victim down during the rape. Chaperones were on this trip with the team, yet they all claim they didn't hear anything. Rick Smith, superintendent of schools, has already absolved the adults of any responsibility, even before the investigation is complete. The coach dropped his injured player at the hospital, then allowed the team to continue in the tournament, knowing what his 3 players had done. Rick Smith, claims neither he, nor any of the school board can comment on this case due to a gag order...yet there is no gag order in place. WTVC, a local news station here, released a story containing the names of the alleged rapists after fiLing an open records request. Yet mysteriously, within just an hour of that story being released, they removed it from not only their website, but their Facebook page as well...and refuse to give an explanation as to why. I screen shotted the story before they took it down. Something is definitely fishy here....and it's not the fish swimming close by in the Tn River. Lord knows what else will come out after all this.
EXCELLENT letter to the editor, Navywife. I'm very impressed and I'm not saying that because you're my bestie
Here's a big part of what I think is going on here. Sports have become less an after school activity and more a ticket to college. It has become, for some students, a trip to the good life, an exit out of a poverty stricken upbringing and in some cases, the end all be all for the student. [Aaron Hernandez anyone?] Think about him for a minute and what his life turned out to be like.He was literally a multi-millionaire at the age of 25 due to the fact that he was given a football career oppertunity and he realized he could solve problems with his name, his career and fix problems by throwing money at them. Some people might not agree, but that is how I see it. You can't solve problems by just throwing money at them. That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works.
I read this at the same site where your editorial was posted and I thought it was some good food for thought.
You know what this is? This is like that Ethan Couch kid. These kids thought their teachers,coaches and parents would bail their spoiled asses out so they acted like sick little jerks. This is some right here.
Oh Rocket... I told you we hadn't heard all the details yet, and now that more details are coming out the **** is really hitting the fan in this case... and it's just getting started.
UPDATE: We've only heard of the 1 brutal rape of a freshman basketball player. Today it was released that in fact, FOUR freshman players were sexually assaulted at this tournament at the hands of their fellow teammates, not just 1. One of them, the one we've heard about, apparently suffered the most brutal attack out of all of them and required hospitalization, as well as numerous surgeries. It's also come out that the coach, athletic director, and Superintendant of Schools broke the law by not reporting the assaults to Child Protective Services. They didn't report it to anyone. The coach took the player with the most serious injuries to a clinic. The kid was eventually released, but later collapsed as a result of his injuries and was taken to a major hospital The hospital is who reported the rape to law enforcement. But as usual, **** is floating at the top. The Coach and athletic director are facing charges over not reporting the attacks. But for some unknown reason, the Superintendant of Schools is facing no charges at this time... even though he broke the same law that the coach and athletic director did. The coach still has not been fired, although he has been transferred to a new position within the school system where he'll have no contact with students. Big freaking deal. That kid could have died from his injuries... he had a ruptured colon and spleen among other things. And the fact that we are only now just finding out that there are in fact 4 victims, and not just 1... this shiznit stinks to high heaven!
WHY didn't they get called into account for this? I can't believe the super of schools didn't get it. How he pulled this off is really beyond me. I know athletics get away with hazings but this is just getting worse and worse. FOUR victims? When I said I hated to think how much worse this would get, I really didn't speculate that more victims would come forward. I should have, I really should!
But I guess I just didn't want to think it would go that far.
I watched the next episode of American Crime and I thought,"Eh, this would never happen in real life." I was right.
CNN.com: On Thursday, charges were brought against three Ooltewah High School employees in connection with the rape allegations that occured at a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN during a basketball tournament. Allard "Jesse" Naydaley, the high school's atheletic director Andre "Tank" Montgomerey, and Karl Williams, an assistant coach. All are accused of not notifying the authorities at the time of the crime.
I saw that some of the students are coming out in support of Coach Montgomerey, something I found interesting. I wouldn't support any teacher who wouldn't take care of me if I was raped with a pool cue. But I'm an adult and these are kids. I'll try and hunt up that link. Maybe I got it wrong.
Kobe Jones, Jerod Bibbs and Joseph Norwood are facing aggravated rape and aggravated assault in connection with the incedent.
I think it's wrong of you to print the names of the minors accused of this crime.
Jennifer Rojo-Garcia, Taos
Isn't that too damn bad.
I don't print the names of the VICTIMS. That means the young men who were violated with a pool cue to the point that they will be affected physically and mentally for the rest of their lives. The accused are another story. And I am not the first one to print them. If you don't like it, feel free to find another blog where the perps don't have their names printed. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.
Why does it bother you that the accused are having their names released to the public?
Here's that piece from WRCB-TN about those kids backing up their former coach who didn't/did handle that rape situation in the appropriate manner.
Now.....you can feel free to tell me if I have this one wrong. Bur after reading this, it sounds like these kids are standing up for this guy, who's being accused of not reporting the sexual assault of a minor who was under his supervision on an out of town event, and saying he's one of the best coaches and teachers they have. He took the kid to the hospital, the one who was hurt the worst, since 3 more have come forward, and has been not put on any kind of academic probation but just moved to a position where he has no contact with students while the higher up figure it out.
Timesfreepress.com: A judge has denied motions to dismiss charges against the head coach, assistant coach and athletic director in the rape case allegations out of Ooltewah High School.
I was waiting for the big fat mainstream media article that makes this look as bad as it is, and here you go. From the Washington Post, a slam dunk of an indictment against the coaches who allowed this to happen under their watch, the superintendent who was lackluster in his reporting and the pathetic attitude toward the athletic director that has resulted in the situation at hand. That super, by the way has asked for a buyout of his contract [in the real world, his ass would get fired].
A damn good read about a damn horrific incident that I've already run on at length about. Show the Washington Post some
From WRCBtv: The TBI has launched an investigation into the testimony of Gatlinburg police chief Rodney Burns, at the request of the DA.
Apparently, according to Burns, the incident that happened on the trip out of town,"Wasn't an assault,wasn't sexual in nature,his pants weren't pulled down and they weren't doing it for sexual gratification."
He said it was just something stupid kids do.
Do we need to remind this miserable idiot one of the victims had to have surgery on his colon? If that's not an assault, I don't know what the hell is. I can't believe the moronic crap coming out of this guy. I wouldn't send my kid to any school where this kind of jackass was in charge of anything.
This again. And just for the record, none of us forgot about it.
Sometimes when we think the system has gone as far as it can go, we get mad when we don't like the aftermath. And sometimes when you think there's been a resolution sometimes someone taps you on the shoulder and asks you to take another look and see if there's something you can do.
This just happened to me and I was surprised because I thought this case had been resolved. I received a message asking me to look at the text and links in this thread because one of the accused, Joseph Norwood, is supposedly receiving multiple full football scholarships that are now being revoked because of what is printed here.
Now as much as I truly wish I had the kind of power to influence people like that, I'm pretty sure they have no idea who I am or have ever read my blog. It's very possible that could be happening. But after 2 days of talking to almost everyone I could [and y'all are hella awesome!] I find it really hard to believe he's not getting into Tulane because that Rocket girl accused him of something he didn't do.
I'm not naming names. But you know who you are. You wanted my advice?
Here it is: slow your roll and tell your student that the next time he's "just there" while one of his teammates gets anally raped, it's going to come back to haunt him.
Most of today was filled with hate mail, I think my favorite was the guy who called me autistic and that it was ok if I didn't understand how football works. He was so sympathetic, I couldn't help but smile because he was so nice about it.
You can go through here and look at the police reports and stuff.
This is the BEST! So, one of the links I posted is basically a bunch of football fans,parents etc. One of them cited my blog as some kind of freak show and even thinks I found Bigfoot!!!
I swear to God it was the funniest thing ever. Who do these people think they are?
The committee for the Kennedy Center Honors? SXSW? It ain't Pulitzer prize winning journalism, Henry Kissinger. Unreal. Seriously, unreal.
Yeah ya dumb ass, I found Bigfoot once. He was balls deep in ya mother.
First, and most important, I didn't dig this up for the hell of it or because I had nothing else to write about. I'm writing this because somebody else brought it up. And when I heard what was up I just though oh holy hell. Come on. Really?
Joseph Norwood is a kid from Tennessee and has played high school sports quite successfully from what I can see. But...there's a problem. As we covered here, Norwood was one of the kids who was charged with the sexual assault of a fellow teammate while on a tournament trip out of town. A 15 year old boy who had to have surgery on his prostate and colon as a result of the attack.
You can go research the case yourself. What is current is that about a week ago, this kid's coach left me a message to call him. At first he tried to get sly and talk around it because his student was having college offers rescinded because of negative publicity I was responsible for. I strait told him we don't back edit unless someone lies or such. I told him I'd look into it. And I did.
He called me and I said sorry. I stand by my word. This time though, he came right out and asked me to remove the content because "there really was no assault!"
I started laughing.
The kid is lying. The parents are lying. The hospital and doctors are lying. The cops are lying. The TBI is lying. I'm lying. EVERYBODY'S lying.
This morning one reader sent me this link to a story about how Norwood is receiving so many offers and the kid says he's "so blessed". I'm sorry but dude? You are a RAPIST. He has his coach to thank for asking me to make all this go away. If he'd kept his mouth shut, none of this would be happening. Thanks coach. You are now in a teachable moment. Teach Norwood that sexual assault is never okay.
All right, all right let's just finish this deal and explain for the last time How this whole ridiculous load of crap came to be.
Joseph Norwood's Coach, Tyrus Ward left me a message here asking me to call him. It was not under the thread of the sexual assault that happened at the tournament when Norwood played in Chattanooga. Mr. Ward actually posted his phone number for everyone to see. I edited it out because I didn't think it was a good idea for him to have his number so public.
That's how this all got started! Tyrus Ward asked me to look into what was said. At first he asked me just to look at it. I said we don't back edit unless it is a serious matter but I promised I'd look into it.
And I did. It was uglier than I wanted to hear. Just really bad. I got a call from the coach about a week later and this time, he came right out and asked me to take it down because THERE WAS NO ASSAULT.
I burst out laughing.
I'm super done with this crap. I never would have known this kid was going to get the good life and jamming a pool cue up someone's ass is no big deal.
I loved the guy with the smartass crack about bigfoot though, from one of the Reddit fan sites. Brah I know you must be hard up to take it that far but even Shrek found his Fiona. Never say never LMAO
Oh and since I'm not putting my phone # on here I'll hook you up with Coach Ward. You can ask him but pretty sure he'll tell a different tale. 423-488-8572 is his number.
All threads and info is together, some of ya seemed....confused so I fixed that. You got something to say? Come say it here. I suspect this will come to a close pretty fast.
To end just remember: if this coach had kept his big effing stupid mouth shut NONE of this would have happened. NONE OF IT.
I totally would swear the likes of what you've never seen but tomorrow is Easter Sunday.
I got an email about this kid and his coach today and it was like oh Please no. This kid, Joseph Norwood is signed to a college and no one gives a CRAP what happened.
I just can't figure out what the holy hell. This coach tried to tell me it was all fake and THERE WAS NO ASSAULT. I'm not going to shut up about this. It' a steaming load of crap. You aren't going to shut me the up. And here's the tweet I posted right before this post.
@Volquest_Rivals y'all breaking bad with J Norwood and you know what I mean!! You know the truth! And you know his coach was in collusion with him and others!
Great. More of this crap. I got the funniest email ever about this.
Now, I can't lie and say I know what the hell this means because I don't. But it looks like J. Norwood had a comittment to sign with one Tennessee team but for some reason, he pulled out and decided to go somewhere else. Why would he do that? Got me by the balls. He blocked me over all this after I told his coach to bite my shiny heavy metal ass [sorry it was my birthday and we were shooting Patron all night haha!]
But I digress.
I don't know how sporting teams work at the collegiate level, so maybe one of you can school me how it works. I thought once you pick one.....
Food for thought. Someone fill me in, even if you're just gonna cuss me out!
right here.
