The Hinton (Iowa) Community School District has responded to lawsuits.filed last month by the parents of two students on the district’s wrestling team.
As reported by KTIV in Sioux City, the lawsuit names the district, superintendent Ken Slater, athletic director Brian DeJong and wrestling coaches Casey Crawford and Bradley Skuodas. In it, parents allege wrestling practices were a place of harassment, bullying and sadomasochistic abuse against members of the junior varsity.
The school district officially denied the allegations May 16.
The parents, who are not being named to protect the identity of the students, also allege the coaches not only did nothing to stop the abusive behavior, they encouraged the students to play violent and aggressive games against underclassmen, some of whom were choked and punched.
In response, the district admitted the wrestling team did participate in games like dodgeball and a game of tag called “slap-back,” but stated the games were not malicious and did not target underclassmen.
The lawsuits also claim that on a trip to Nebraska, some wrestling team members went to a mall where they purchased sex toys that were then used to assault other students. Photos of the assaults were then disseminated.
According to KTIV, the school district specifically states in its response that the team did go to the mall and on the way back one of the coaches, assistant coach Skuodas, heard students riding in his van discussing a sex toy possibly being purchased. The district claims after hearing this, students’ bags were checked but no sex toys were found. They also claim Skuodas made it clear that if any students purchased such an item they would call their parents and have them picked up from the wrestling trip, KTIV's Dean Welte reported.
The school admits in a later investigation of the trip that it did learn a sex toy was purchased and students “engaged in inappropriate behavior with the item.” According to the district’s response, officials did not know about what happened until after a trip to Coralville, Iowa, during which a stun gun was used on some of the students while staying at a hotel. The district admits a student bought a stun gun at the Plymouth County Fair and used it on younger students. Officials claim that none of the school personnel knew about this until a parent brought it to their attention, according to Welte's report.
Shortly after the Coralville trip, the wrestling coaches were put on administrative leave. On March 18, head wrestling coach Crawford submitted his resignation.
Per Welte's KTIV report:
The lawsuits also allege the coaches and athletic director consumed alcohol while on a school-sponsored trip. The district admitted the athletic director and two of the four coaches had “a few beers” at the hotel in Coralville.
There are also allegations Crawford instructed the wrestlers to delete messages that would get him and those named in the lawsuit in trouble. The district’s response denies that this happened.
With their response filed, the district is looking to have the allegations against them dismissed. Both the parents of the wrestlers and the school district want this case to go to a jury trial.
