CHEERLEADING: Ex-coach won’t be charged
The Denver district attorney’s office announced Saturday that it will not file charges in the case in which East High School cheerleaders were forced into doing painful splits during practice.
Video from the first week of cheer camp in June showed multiple cheerleaders being ordered to do splits and even physically forced into them by then-cheer coach Ozell Williams, causing injuries to one girl and forcing East’s principal and athletic director to step down.
Denver District Attorney Beth Mccann said in a statement that after carefully examining the evidence in the case, she concluded that the evidence does not support the filing of criminal charges.
“In order to prove a charge of criminal behavior, the case must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt,” Mccann said.
She went on to say that she felt the case would not be proved to that standard and that “the bad judgment of the coach … does not constitute a prosecutable crime.”
The statement said Mccann arrived at her decision after hearing differing accounts of what happened that day and differing opinions over the use of the training technique.
An independent investigation ordered by the Denver Public Schools’ superintendent showed that then-principal Andy Mendelsberg, who retired after the investigation, had misled other administrators about everything from the injuries suffered by a cheerleader during the incident to the existence of the videos. Lisa Porter, an assistant principal at East who was also serving as the athletic director, also resigned.
Although no charges were filed, Mccann was clear on her feelings on the case.
“The individual involved should not be a coach in high school sports, and he no longer is,” she said “The principal and athletic director of the school have retired and resigned. The message should be clear that this type of technique has no place in high school cheerleading coaching. The bad judgment of the coach, however, does not constitute a prosecutable crime.”
DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg released a statement thanking the DA’S office and the Denver Police Department, adding that decisions made by DPS were according to an independent report by the law firm hired to investigate the matter. Boasberg’s statement made clear that he hopes the videos are no longer a topic of discussion.
“Our top priority has been, and will continue to be, the safety and well-being of our students,” he said. “In support of this, and to allow our students to continue healing, we would ask news media to refrain from showing videos of the ‘forced splits’ in covering this issue.”