WALHALLA — Two Seneca High School football players have been charged with assaulting one of their teammates.
A Seneca Police Department report states that Devin Gaines, 17, and Austin Hunter, 18, beat up a younger teammate in the school’s junior varsity locker room after football practice Oct. 26. Because the victim is a juvenile, authorities are not releasing his name.
The student told a Seneca police officer that the trouble began after he called Hunter a “molester” during football practice.
After practice, the victim told police that Gaines, a senior defensive lineman, and Hunter, a senior defensive back, came to the junior varsity room, where an unidentified team member slammed the victim to the ground before Hunter began punching and kicking him in the head.
“The victim said (Hunter) threw him down and punched him multiple times. (Gaines) came over and punched the victim several times, laughing about the incident,” according to the police report.
After teammates pulled Hunter from the locker room, the report said, Gaines “pulled the victim’s shirt over his head and punched him multiple times.”
Gaines and Hunter were arrested Monday and charged with assault and battery. They were taken to the Oconee County Detention Center. Both were released after posting bond in the amount $1,092.50.
Chief John Covington with the Seneca Police Department said the two students were not charged with lynching, which is the act of two or more people assaulting an individual, because the severity of that charge was not consistent with the facts of the case.
According to the School District of Oconee County behavior code for students, fighting is punishable by a minimum of three days suspension from school.
Seneca High Principal Cliff Roberts said, “The situation was handled per district policy from the beginning.”He referred further questions, including whether the players will be allowed to suit up for Seneca’s District-AAA football playoff game Friday versus J.L. Mann High School, to the School District of Oconee County administrative offices.
County Council Court Hearings
Broadway Lake fish limit
Hejaz Shrine Circus hits Anderson
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 15
herewegoagain writes:
maybe the kid will learn to keep his mouth shut now
jacketsfan76 writes:
"sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never hurt me"...NO EXCUSE for what these thugs did...should be in jail!!!
57freebird writes:
Sounds like a hate crime, they hate being called a name!
herewegoagain writes:
JAIL??? come on the kid mouthed off and couldnt handle the butt kicking he got. lesson learned
57freebird writes:
does it take a 17 yr old and an 18 yr old to "teach" a 15 yr old a lesson? there are laws because of the age difference like there are for consenual activity between a 15 and 18 yr old.
drobertson53#208865 writes:
Dear herewegoagain --
OK, let's assume there's both a realism and even a sense of moral dispensation in your gritty observation that "the kid mouthed off and got his butt kicked" -- i.e., the youngest male should "man-up," stoically accept the consequences of his individual actions, and not complain to police or school officials. Take a hit for the team, kid, and for your own good.
So why did the 18-year old also not "man-up" and physically confront his antagonist alone, without alledgedly asking his equally large, 17-year old friend to aid him in beating up someone much younger and presumably smaller?
Even if you believe that life is basically "smash-mouth," as I do, and that nature "is red in claw and tooth," as I do, and that traditional codes of southern manhood are in many ways admirable, as I do, the oldest males's alledged actions are morally vile and cowardly, and legally constitute assault.
Maybe the youngest kid who "got his butt kicked" was right: the oldest male really is basically a molester.
savdavis writes:
Nice thinig ,,,the football team has going for them ,,,2 on 1,,,???? oh yes rough and tough football players,,,big ,bad, tag-team,,,, ""football"" ...AT ITS FINEST...WOW,,,,lets recruit more people like these 2 ,,,,,their mentality shows thru,,,
1catlover writes:
At least he didn't eye-gouge him. That would have cost him half a game!!
herewegoagain writes:
you guys act like you are all perfect. you know that when you were in school you didnt get arrested and charged with assult and battery if you got in a fight. i would beat the heck out of someone if they called me a molester also.
Charles_Philip_Arthur_George writes:
Wow, someone got beat up a lot by their dad. Left some scars huh? Maybe letting it simmer under the surface for all of these years wasn't the best thing for your well-being.
herewegoagain writes:
no i didnt get beat up by my dad or anyone else. actually i am a female and a very successful one. i just dont beleive that you can say things about someone without facing the consequences. maybe he will think twice about calling someone a name next time.
Charles_Philip_Arthur_George writes:
Success can be measured in many ways, and anyone who considers two older boys beating up a one younger kid is not an emotional success by any stretch of the imagination.
01fordeb writes:
2 punks that can't take a little name calling. With the 2 kids beating him, this is why the other will come back with a pistol. What is 3 days suspension. My local high school would take you to jail, $575 fine, Suspended, and some cases probation. They just don't want the football team to suffer, what a shame. If this was my child that was beat by 2 young panty wearing molesters, I would take it into my hands. It is a completely different story, if it was a 1 on 1 fight, but this is not the case. Who knows, they may have been trying to gang rape this young boy. What a joke on the school and the local law for not pushing for something to show there is serious consequences for actions like this. The heartless, friendless, disliked and most likely abused people on here that see it was fit for both boys jumping on this younger boy are very troubled individuals which need guidance. This is how our kids get out of hand, they get away with lynching and assault. Take them from football for the year to. Make them wear pink jerseys, stating "i beat up on young boys" if they want to play football. Make these boys stand out with embarrassment as the other boy did in front of all those teammates. Sorry for the ones that can't take a little name. People like you strive for ignorance and end up jailed because you can't suppress the thought of being under minded or challenged.
YesWEcan writes:
I definitely don't agree with what these students did, they should've been kicked off the team immediately. If it was my child that was beatup, I would've went to the police also. Name calling is something that happens in schools, but when adults do it to children, that is really really sad and a real poor example for the troubled kids of today!! Let's not forget what happened in Columbine!!!
mmurphy2440#265819 writes:
I don't believe the punishment this fellow had to endure are the consequences that should have been suffered. The coward should have faced the young fellow by himself instead of ganging up on him. Maybe he was afraid of a butt whipping from a 15 year old.
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.