Coach who forced cheerleaders into splits will not be charged with a crime

Fox News ^ | October15, 2017 | Jonathan Hunt

[sparklite2]

A number of officials at East High School in Denver came under fire in August when a disturbing video circulated showing cheerleaders repeatedly being pushed into splits.

An incoming high school freshman screamed in pain and asked the coach, Ozell Williams, to “please stop” in one video. Her morther said she suffered injuries to her leg from the forced exercise.

The leaked video caused a public uproar. The school’s principal retired and the athletic director resigned after the video was leaked; Williams was fired.

Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg thanked the DA’s office for investigating the case, but asked the media to stop sharing the videos of the controversial cheer practice, the Denver Post reported.

“Our top priority has been, and will continue to be, the safety and well-being of our students,” Boasberg said. “In support of this, and to allow our students to continue healing, we would ask news media to refrain from showing videos of the ‘forced splits’ in covering this issue.”

[DoughtyOne]

The video doesn’t substantiate your claim.

I’m not sure if you’re kidding or not, but no kid should go through pain like that by force.

If you want her to do the splits, have her do exercises that might expand her range of movement. You don’t force her joints farther than they will naturally go.

[shanover]

“Our top priority has been, and will continue to be, the safety and well-being of our students,”

That video and tone deafness after the fact contradicts this. If that were my daughter, the coach would lucky to only be fired.

[smokingfrog]

Maybe the girl’s cheerleading squad should have a female coach.

But these days, you never know.

https://myspace.com/drkmidnight/photos

[combat_boots]

Black cheerleaders were pinning her arms

[leapfrog0202]

The ask news media to quit sharing this video? Wrong on so many levels. People SHOULD be sharing this far and wide. This coach needed to do time for child abuse.

[Trumpet 1]

East High School is a hot bed of progressive democrat communist BLM cop hating behavior. Autonomous User appears to be more of a Facist Pig than a person who claims to be a Free Republic person. The Denver political establishment is very much Clinton Obama in orientation. In other words, corrupt and evil...

[Maigrey]

Tearing thigh muscles isn't bullcrap. It's horrid. I coach and train kids her age. You don't tear muscles, especially in the legs, to get them to be flexible, just like you don't break boy's bones to make them tougher. That's Bullcrap. Forcing a child to miss three months or longer for a torn muscle is abusive. Pulling a hamstring would last weeks to months to recover.

Knowing your students and their abilities and then gently pushing daily is how you do it - not forcing it into tearing muscles.

You're advocating abuse under the guise of making kids tough. Rubbish. Hope you're never in a position to coach kids - ever.

[Drew68]

I hope the family moved and sues

Emily Griffith isn't a regular high school. It's primarily a school for people who couldn't cut it in regular school.

These days it's considered a technical college but still known for its GED and ESL programs as well as night classes. Back when I was a teenager 30 years ago, it was knows as the "Emily Griffith Opportunity School" and had a reputation as the school for where girls who had gotten pregnant went to finish earning their high school diplomas after the babies were born.

Anyways, so moving wouldn't really apply in this case unless they moved entirely out of the greater metro Denver area.

[DoughtyOne]

I noticed.

IMO, that was assault. She was clearly demanding they stop, and they continued to force her to do something her body was not capable of doing safely.

[fso301]

I’d hate to think my coaches could get in trouble for all the times the had me grimacing in pain.

[null and void]

One thing I noticed is the face of the minor child is not blurred out but the face of the adult coach is.

Why do you suppose that is?

Hard to recall another news story where the minor’s ID wasn’t vigorously protected...

[DoughtyOne]

That was glaringly obvious to me also.

I forget now if you could see the other helping black person’s face or not.

[sparklite2]

Administrators losing their jobs over a coaching practice deemed not illegal reminds me of the Teapot Dome trials.

In 1929, Albert Fall was found guilty of accepting bribes from Edward Doheny. Conversely, in 1930, Edward Doheny was acquitted of paying bribes to Fall.

Doheny was convicted of accepting money from Fall that Fall was acquitted of giving.

[elcid1970]

Betty White was doing splits on Golden Girls in her sixties. But she was a professional dancer before that. These adolescent girls are not. And they were cruelly coerced to do what they could not bear to physically do.

Hang his @zz.

[Autonomous User]

“She suffered torn muscle tissue. That’s assault and battery causing physical harm. Coach should be jailed, and certainly sued for damages, both physical and emotionally.”

Blah blah blah. She was a candy ass.

[Autonomous User]

If you coach... I bet you give participation trophies.

[Tax-chick]

Let’s find out what Donald Trump thinks, before we jump to any conclusions. Does this form of coaching Make America Great? If you don’t think so, are you part of the Wussified Cuck World?

I’ll wait for the tweets before I form an opinion.

[5by5]

It wasn’t at Emily Griffith, that’s just where the superintendent’s office is located.

The incident occurred at at East.

[Drew68]

It wasn’t at Emily Griffith, that’s just where the superintendent’s office is located.

The incident occurred at at East.

You're right. I missed that detail.

Being a remedial school, I did find it odd that Emily Griffith would've had a cheerleading program, or any athletics for that matter.

[I_be_tc]

I graduated from East in 1970. I don’t think we had white cheerleaders.