Andre Montgomery Ooltewah Basketball Gang Rape Scandal / Ooltewah TN High School Coach charged

On December 22, 2015, Andre Montgomery was all alone with a bunch of underage boys. In a small house in Gatlinburg, far away from their parents.   His best friend, Kobe Jones (pictured at right talking to Andre Montgomery), raped four young boys.

While his BFF Andre Montgomery stood by and did nothing to interfere with these illegal sex acts:  "District 1 School Board member Rhonda Thurman has expressed her dissatisfaction with the school district administration’s somewhat muffled response to the controversy.  A former athlete herself, she told me she is “horrified” that a sexual assault took place “right under the noses” of teammates and coaches. “Someone had to know this was going on!  Why didn’t anyone stop it?”" (David Carroll, Looking for answers in Ooltewah High basketball rape case, 1 Jan 2016, http://www.chattanoogaradiotv.com/general/looking-for-answers-in-ooltewah-high-basketball-rape-case/)

Kobe Jones got arrested for aggravated rape.  But at first, Andre Montgomery was left alone by the law enforcement community.  After all, it can't be a crime just to watch, now could it?

LONGTIME SCHOOL TRADITIONS

Andre Montgomery had a coaching job at Ooltewah High School, a job traditionally filled by bisexual men with a taste for "young stuff":  "Mercer and other men claimed in the mid-1990s they and other boys were sexually molested by their coach, Stan Evans, at Ooltewah".

SERIOUS PERVERSION IN THE ATHLETIC PROGRAMS

"Evans introduced the boys to alcohol, first Miller Lite and then Dos Dedos tequila, he remembers. Evans showed them pornographic films and rewarded them for touching themselves, and he never missed an opportunity to look at their bare bodies".  (Kendi Anderson, The Code of Silence:  Allegations of abuse have haunted the halls of Ooltewah schools for years, Times Free Press, 14 Feb 2016)

DISGRACED SCHOOL'S BOSS FORCED OUT

Until his recent fall, Rick Smith ran the Hamilton County school system, but used to be a coach himself.  Not suprisingly, Smith defends the "traditions".   "Smith said there had been no wrongdoing found against any adult in the case."  (Rest Of Season Called Off For Ooltewah High Boys Basketball Due To Rape Investigation; Smith Says No Wrongdoing Found On Part Of Any Adult, Raps Media; Case Featured On Today Show, Chattanoogan, 7 Jan 2016, http://chattanoogan.com/2016/1/7/315548/Rest-Of-Season-Called-Off-For-Ooltewah.aspx)

"An Ooltewah High School teacher said he’s concerned the same people who did nothing in the earlier cases are still in power":  “I don’t think our children are protected”. (Kendi Anderson, The Code of Silence:  Allegations of abuse have haunted the halls of Ooltewah schools for years, Times Free Press, 14 Feb 2016)

Since Jim Javis is principal:   "telling Channel 3 in an email, “a violation of team policy did occur.”"  (TIMELINE: The sequence of events surrounding the Ooltewah basketball player rape case, WRCBtv, 5 Jan 2016)

HE WAS JUST ONE MAN

But Jim Jarvis couldn't buck schools boss Rick Smith, and those long years of tradition:

TIME-HONORED TRADITION OF MAN/BOY LOVE 

"Starting in 2001, complaints began to pile up against Ooltewah High teacher Jason Hamrick. Students and parents accused him of having inappropriate relationships with young male students. He taught at the school for nearly 15 years, despite more than a dozen complaints of misbehavior in his personnel file, including reprimands from Deputy Superintendent Robert Smith and then-Principal Ed Foster.

BUILDING THE TRADITION

Like Evans, Hamrick was a coach. School leaders Rick Smith, Foster, Marvin Smith and Jarvis were also once coaches." (Kendi Anderson, The Code of Silence:  Allegations of abuse have haunted the halls of Ooltewah schools for years, Times Free Press, 14 Feb 2016)

Which is why "freshmen athletes at Ooltewah are regularly beaten in a dark locker room."  (Roy Exum: Our Kids Need Your Help, The Chattanoogan, 7 Jan 2015, http://chattanoogan.com/2016/1/7/315561/Roy-Exum-Our-Kids-Need-Your-Help.aspx)

THE TRADITION HAD VICTIMS

"Mercer graduated from Ooltewah High School in 1992. He said he and his friends never discussed during their school years what Evans did to them. Even after graduating, the boys never brought it up, and Mercer said he never let himself think about how many others could have been abused.

“There was a code of silence for us being abused,” Mercer told the Times Free Press. “We never talked about it.”

Mercer left that night and started contacting other guys he thought might be Evans’ victims.

COACH EVANS HAD PROTECTION FROM THE SYSTEM

“I then realized [Evans] was still at the school,” Mercer said. “… I lost my damn mind.” (Kendi Anderson, The Code of Silence:  Allegations of abuse have haunted the halls of Ooltewah schools for years, Times Free Press, 14 Feb 2016)  The entire chain of management comes up through the athletic program.  They understand "what a coach needs":

HOW THE SYSTEM TAKES CARE OF BISEXUAL COACHES

Even though "Judge Rob Philyaw sent the charges to the Hamilton County Grand Jury after the hearing", "He said the statutes on mandatory reporting are unclear, and the Department of Children's Services' policy on the issue unsatisfactory." (Kendi Anderson, Remarks in Ooltewah rape case fuel community outrage, calls for change, Times Free Press, 17 Feb 2016)

Which is completely untrue.  One simple call to 9-1-1 can get you anything from a single cruiser to an entire SWAT team of trigger-happy Rambos.  (see at right)

BUT WHY WOULD THEY CALL THE POLICE WHEN THEY WERE HAVING A GOOD TIME?

"the coaches were staying at the cabin with the boys during the overnight tournament trip. They were in charge and accountable for the team." (Ooltewah's Athletic Director Jesse Nayadley cited in David Carroll, The Ooltewah crisis response: If you can’t stand the heat…., David Carroll's Chattanooga Radio and TV, 7 Jan 2016, http://www.chattanoogaradiotv.com/)


MORE CHATTANOOGA INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS:

The Fall of School Superintendent Rick Smith

Ooltewah High School Principal Jim Jarvis knew what was going on, but did nothing to stop it

Breaking Scandal at Silverdale Baptist / Senior pastor mutters incantations, but can't get the Holy Spirit

Silverdale Church Service degenerates into Farce as Senior Pastor flaps his Wings and tries to fly