Monday, October 22nd 2012, 11:10 pm
School leaders met Monday night in a special board meeting to investigate the head football coach, in connection with a locker room incident at Locust Grove high school.
At least 200 people attended the public forum Monday night, and several parents voiced their concerns and opinions about something that happened in the Locust Grove high school locker room on October 10.
Details from the school board were scant, during the meeting.
According to police reports acquired by the News On 6 on Tuesday afternoon, the incident started with two students having their heads wrapped with athletic tape. Police gathered from witness accounts that a group formed around the two boys and two other boys placed their genitals on the boys' faces.
The police report states that one boy was suspended until March of 2013 and another was suspended for three days. Several others received in-school detention time.
According to the police report, the school said they did not believe a crime had been committed. They had asked police to investigate, not because a formal complaint had been made, but because they'd heard rumors.
Police also spoke with one of the boys targeted and he and his father both said they didn't feel he was the victim of a crime.
The other boy told police he didn't feel he was the victim of a crime and that he willingly allowed his head to be wrapped. He denied to police, according to the report, that genitals were ever placed on his face.
Police said they didn't have probable cause to make any arrests and that they, at this point, consider the case closed from a legal standpoint.
The school board said it doesn't condone what happened.
Parents at Monday night's public forum had strong opinions about the incident.
"People [are] always wanting to point fingers, blame other people. The boys have been punished. They need to just drop it and let them learn from it," said parent Anita Fox.
Another parent was not so willing to let it go.
"Please, please, never say, ‘Boys will be boys,' again, because you know what—I'm raising my boy to be a man, and men don't do this," said parent Angela Overstreet.
After the public forum, the school board held an executive session which included the high school head football coach, Matt Hennessey, who had reportedly left the students unattended in the locker room.
When the meeting adjourned, the school board said Coach Hennessey was not responsible for the incident and that he would remain the head football coach.
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