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UPDATE (12/11/20): Williams has been charged with child abuse for his actions, according to ESPN.
“The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office along with our local state attorney’s office have reviewed this case and the decision has been made that charges for child abuse will be filed, regardless of parent’s decision not to press charges,” Maj. Jacob Ruiz said in a statement Friday. “The actions of this person are despicable and there is zero tolerance when it comes to the abuse of a child.”
Following Williams’ actions going viral, he was banned from all American Youth Football activities.
“We are of course beyond disappointed in the coaches actions, which are wholly inconsistent with the fundamental value of youth sports, which at its core is an opportunity for adult leaders to be role models for our nation’s youth,” Adam Laufer, executive vice president and general counsel at American Youth Football, said in a statement.
ORIGINAL STORY: A football coach was banned from all American Youth Football activities after video surfaced of the man slapping his players violently after a play.
Gerrell Williams, who once worked for a Sheriff’s Department in Georgia, was caught on video on December 7 attacking one of his players, hitting the child multiple times before throwing him to the sideline.
Williams issued a video apology, making no excuse for what he did but the damage was done. Numerous former and current athletes such as LeBron James and Shannon Sharpe condemned the video, with James saying he and Williams would be having more than words after such an incident.
“If I there and it’s not even my kid we gone have more than words for sure,” James wrote on Instagram Wednesday (December 9).
After the December 7 incident went viral, William was investigated for child abuse. Ultimately, investigators determined charges wouldn’t be filed against him for now and the 9-year-old boy’s mother said she didn’t want to press charges against him either. However, prosecutors could move forward with charges, using the video as evidence.
To date, he has lost his job as a counselor in the Chatham County Sherriff’s Office in Georgia as a counselor in the detention center.
Youth Football Coach Investigated For Child Abuse After Video Goes Viral was originally published on theboxhouston.com
