Teen Boy Sues Coach and Wife
A teen boy has filed a sexual assault lawsuit against the Knox County School Board, his former football coach and the coach’s wife, who had sex with him multiple times.
The teen boy and his brother, who played football at South-Doyle High School at the time, moved in with their coach Justin McCarter and his wife in July 2014. They were having behavioral problems and their coach invited them to move in so that he could mentor them.
According to the lawsuit, the sexual abuse began in July 2015, right before the boy turned 15. The coach’s wife, Kelsey McCarter, gave him oral sex in his bedroom. There were several other instances of sexual abuse while the boy lived in their home.
Several months later, the teen boy was called into a school meeting with Clark Duncan, an assistant principal and head football coach at South-Doyle. Duncan told the boy that he was being kicked off the football team because McCarter was upset that he had sexual relations with his wife.
McCarter told his wife to pick up the teen and take him to the house so that he could pack his belongings and move out. The teen then transferred to Fulton High School and moved back to his mother’s house. However, Kelsey continued to pursue the boy. The lawsuit claims she sent him a video in which she was naked via Facebook messenger. She continued to meet with the boy and had multiple sexual encounters with him until January 2016.
It didn’t take long for other students and school officials to find out about the inappropriate photo of Kelsey. According to the lawsuit, Duncan arranged a meeting with the high school football coaches regarding the photo and told them not to talk about it.
Principal Tim Berry later reported the allegations to DCS officials. McCarter resigned from his position in February 2016 and his wife was indicted a couple of months later. She pleaded guilty to all the charged and was sentenced to three years in prison.
The lawsuit alleges that McCarter suspected or knew about the sexual abuse and never reported it to authorities. It also claims school officials didn’t immediately contact DCS after learning that Kelsey sent the naked photo to the teen.
The lawsuit seeks $2 million in damages.
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