The initial findings of a Gwinnett County schools police investigation into members of Georgia’s top high school baseball team backed up allegations of “physical and sexual battery,” according to documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The findings were forwarded Monday to authorities in South Carolina, where the abuse is alleged to have taken place.
Gwinnett County Public Schools announced last week that its police department was investigating six upperclassmen on the Parkview High School baseball team for alleged "inappropriate behavior" during a team trip to North Charleston, S.C.
Schools officials said at the time that the upperclassmen were accused of entering the hotel rooms of freshmen players on June 5 and “wrestling” with them.
An additional allegation of “inappropriate physical contact” was made by one young team member.
An initial report from GCPS police, obtained Monday by the AJC, said the investigation was triggered by an email to a police tip line that “contained an allegation of sexual assault.” The report said that “initial facts and statements” gathered by authorities were “consistent with allegations (of) … physical and sexual battery.”
Few other details about the alleged abuses were provided in the report, but the department’s findings were passed along to police in North Charleston on Monday, authorities there confirmed.
“I can confirm that Gwinnett County Schools Police forwarded their incident report to us this morning,” North Charleston Police Department spokesman Spencer Pryor told the AJC. “Aside from that, it is our policy to not comment on matters involving juveniles.”
Pryor did not respond to a subsequent email asking if a criminal investigation was under way.
A Gwinnett County schools spokeswoman also did not respond to inquiries Monday. It was unclear if schools police remained actively involved in the case.
According to the GCPS incident report, the six Parkview players named as suspects include one 17-year-old, one 16-year-old and four 15-year-olds. Four victims — three 14-year-olds and one 13-year-old — were listed on the report, as were nine different witnesses.
Parkview baseball is Georgia’s reigning state champion and is considered by some to be the top team in the country. The team’s coach, Chan Brown, was recently named baseball coach of the year by both USA Today and the National High School Coaches Association.
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