Youth football coach fired, faces child abuse charges after punching player in Florida
A Georgia youth football coach faces child abuse charges after online video surfaced this week of him punching a player during a championship game in Florida, authorities announced Friday.
Clips of the incident has been shared widely online, resulting in his firing from the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office in Savannah and a lifetime ban from the American Youth Football league, multiple outlets have reported.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said the coach, identified as Gerrell Williams, faces child abuse charges in the Dec. 7 incident, according to a deputy report obtained by McClatchy News.
Authorities said they chose to move forward with prosecution “regardless of the parent’s decision not to press charges.”
The video shows Williams strike a player twice in the face, at one point knocking the child onto the ground in front of fans and players. He proceeds to shout in the player’s face before pushing him off the field.
It was an out-of-state viewer who alerted Osceola County authorities to the incident, according to the report.
The assault unfolded Monday as the 9-and-up Savannah Gators’ competed in the American Youth Football National Championships game in Kissimmee, Florida, according to Yahoo News. In its report, the sheriff’s office confirmed that Williams has since been “expelled from the league” and is barred from attending any events.
Off the field, Williams also worked as a detention center counselor in Chatham County but is now out of a job, the sheriff’s office announced Thursday.
“The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office does not condone this behavior,” the department wrote in a Facebook post, calling the coach’s action’s “disturbing.” “As of Dec. 10, 2020, he is no longer an employee of the CCSO.”
Video sparks outrage
The Savannah Police Department says it looked into the incident after receiving dozens of messages about the coach’s actions.
“We want to assure everyone that we did immediately look into this and quickly learned that this incident occurred while the team was out of town,” Savannah police said in a statement posted to Facebook. “After contacting the police department in the city the team was at when the incident occurred, we learned that their detectives had already begun investigating the coach’s actions.”
The clip has been shared thousands of times across Twitter and Facebook, sparking outrage and leading to calls for the coach to be immediately disciplined.
“Shame on every adult here who allowed this to happen and did nothing,” one person commented. “This man needs to be held responsible for his actions.”
“100% unacceptable,” wrote another. “This coach doesn’t belong in youth sports & needs to be removed immediately.”
Four-time NBA champion LeBron James also criticized the incident, posting on Instagram: “Couldn’t be my kid ... If I (were) there and it’s not even my kid, we gone have more than words for sure.”
Authorities said the incident remains under investigation.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Youth football coach fired, faces child abuse charges after punching player in Florida."