Free Republic

First they heard the screams. Karl Williams, the assistant coach for the Ooltewah High School basketball team, hurried downstairs to the rooms where the 14 teenage players were staying for the duration of their four day tournament in Gatlinburg, Tenn. There he found a 15-year-old freshman player covered in blood, urine and feces, Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston told ESPN. Two sophomore players were holding the boy down, while a third teammate, a senior, shoved a pool cue up his rectum. The freshman was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery to repair his bladder and colon, which...

Three high school basketball players from Tennessee have been charged with raping and assaulting a teammate while staying in a rental cabin for a tournament, officials said late Tuesday. The male victim was hospitalized and had to undergo surgery "due to the extent of his injuries" after the Dec. 23 incident, according to local police. The three suspects and the victim were all juveniles from Ooltewah High School, in Ooltewah, Tennessee. Their basketball team was in Gatlinburg, around 100 miles to the northeast, for a tournament, Gatlinburg Police Department said in a statement.