The six members of Georgia's top high school baseball team accused of hazing and sexually assaulting younger teammates have been suspended for either a semester or the entire 2015-16 school year, an attorney confirmed Monday.
Lawyers representing five of the accused Parkview players are arguing, however, that the Gwinnett County Public Schools system doesn’t have the jurisdiction to impose any disciplinary action at all.
The incident in question occurred June 5 in a hotel room in North Charleston, S.C. Several members of the "Panthers Summer Baseball Team" — a travel squad comprised of many Parkview High players but run by the parent-led Parkview Dugout Club — were allegedly at the hotel following a tournament when six upperclassmen began "wrestling" with and sexually assaulting younger players.
Team coaches were alerted to the incident later that night while checking on players at the hotel, and one coach reported the allegations to Parkview’s athletic director and other administrators. Gwinnett County Public Schools confirmed in the days after the incident that its police department was investigating the assault allegations, which named one 17-year-old, one 16-year-old and four 15-year-olds as suspects.
Four victims — three 14-year-olds and one 13-year-old — were listed in the incident report.
GCPS Gwinnett County Public Schools police forwarded their initial findings to authorities in South Carolina, but Spencer Pryor, a spokesman for the North Charleston Police Department, said Monday no criminal charges have been filed against the accused players.
“We still have not been contacted by any parents of the victims with regards to filing a report with us for an investigation to be conducted,” he said.
Because no criminal charges have been filed in the case, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is not naming the suspects.
The school system was simultaneously conducting its own disciplinary investigation and, on Friday, handed down the hefty suspensions for all six players named in the case, according to William Carlisle, an attorney representing one of the students.
Carlisle declined to provide specific information about the suspensions, but said each player was suspended for either a semester or the full school year. It was unclear why the suspension terms varied for different players.
Citing privacy concerns, Gwinnett schools spokeswoman Sloan Roach said she could not confirm or comment on any disciplinary action taken.
But Carlisle said the suspensions came after he and other attorneys representing five of the players filed an unsuccessful injunction petition in Gwinnett County Superior Court, arguing Gwinnett schools did not have the authority to discipline the athletes.
One of the players named in the petition is listed on Parkview High School’s 2015 varsity baseball roster and the other four are listed on the junior varsity roster, but their attorneys argued — and continue to argue — that the incident took place during a team trip that was not a school-related function.
The Panthers Summer Baseball Team, the attorneys said, is not affiliated in any way with Parkview High School, its reigning state championship baseball team, Gwinnett County Public Schools or the Georgia High School Athletic Association. Neither was the tournament they were playing in, according to the petition.
Attorneys claim “many” of the alleged victims never played baseball at or attended Parkview High. While they concede the initial disciplinary referral was made by a Parkview High School coach who was “present at the tournament,” they say that no high school coaches act in that capacity for the travel team.
“It is common and routine practice throughout the United States for voluntary private baseball teams organized in or near a particular school district to adopt the team mascot and colors of a local high school even when absolutely no actual sponsorship or affiliation exists,” according to the petition.
Furthermore, according to the petition, the alleged misconduct “did not occur during the tournament or at the tournament site but at a hotel … after the tournaments games were played.”
Roach, on the other hand, said in an emailed statement to The AJC that the matter is “very clear.
“This was a school-related function … it was a Parkview High School summer baseball program and all of the students were Parkview High School students at the time.”
According to an online version of the Gwinnett school district's student behavior code, guidelines extend to off-campus behavior not only when it occurs at a school-related function, but also when a student's actions "could result in the student being criminally charged with a felony" or when they make "the student's continued presence at school a potential danger to person or property at school or which disrupts the educational process."
Roach said “any students who received consequences during this process do have an opportunity to appeal the outcome.”
Ray Lail, an attorney representing two of the suspended players and their parents, said his clients were “weighing their options at this time.”
Giles Sexton, who represents another one of the players, called the school system’s jurisdiction policy “over-reaching and nebulous” and the punishment handed down “excessive.” He said his client will appeal the suspension.
Carlisle said his clients will also continue to fight the disciplinary action, though he was unsure what the next step will be.
“At this point,” Carlisle said, “it may be less about trying to get them back into school and more about seeking compensation for the wrongs that have been committed.”
The school year began Monday in Gwinnett.
—Staff writer Rose French contributed to this article.
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