Image Credit: @LamarBrown15 / X
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
A high school football coach in Knox County has been relieved of his coaching duties following a child sex crime scandal involving two members of his coaching staff.
According to Knox County Schools Superintendent Jon Rysewyk, Lamar Brown, now former head coach of West High School, will not be returning to the school next year and will not be coaching within the district at all.
Brown has been reassigned as a teacher in a different school within the district. The name of that school has not been released.
Rysewyk says that decision came after the system conducted an internal investigation of the coaching staff for West High’s football team.
Allegations leading to criminal charges were made against two members of the staff, assistant coaches Chad Brooks and Richard Shaver. Brooks, also a social studies teacher at the school, was indicted on sixteen counts of aggravated statutory rape and statutory rape by an authority figure.
Shaver, a non-faculty coach, was charged with four counts of sexual battery by an authority figure and two counts of attempted sexual battery by an authority figure.
Brooks was terminated from his position, and Shaver resigned.
The district’s internal investigation found that several staff members violated district policy by not reporting knowledge of alleged incidents to police or the Department of Children’s Services.
Because Brown is not facing criminal charges, his employment was not terminated. However, he was removed from all coaching responsibilities due to “significant lack of oversight of the West High School football program.”
Jeff Hagood, attorney for Lamar Brown, released a statement:
I am deeply, deeply disappointed in the actions taken by Knox County Schools (KCS) to reassign Coach Brown from West High School to another school. Coach Brown is a beloved figure in the West community, and he has poured his heart and soul into the players, school, and that community. The net effect of KCS’s decision will only hurt the players, students, parents, and the entire West community.
Most troubling to me is that Lamar was reassigned for the apparent sins of others. Lamar Brown has absolutely done nothing wrong. KCS’s stated reasons for reassignment are inaccurate…and that’s very troubling to me.
Lamar Brown will stand tall, despite his deep disappointment, as men of high character and integrity always do.
Superintendent Rysewyk says the district has created a plan to implement changes to lessen the chance of a similar situation occurring in the future. They will have greater oversight in hiring of coaching staff at West High. Additionally, all staff members will undergo more in-person training on procedures such as reporting of Title IX violations and building appropriate relationships between teachers and students.
The Knoxville Police Department is continuing with the investigation of all criminal aspects of the allegations against Brooks and Shaver.
