Tennessee high school baseball coach seen inappropriately touching female student in viral video suspended without pay
A Tennessee high school baseball coach has been suspended after a video emerged of him rubbing the back of a teenage girl.
According to Fox Nashville, Rutherford County Schools (RCS) have suspended Eagleville High School baseball coach Travis Holland without pay after they were brought to the attention of the now-viral video.
In the video, Holland, who is also a history teacher at the school, can be seen sitting and slowly running his hand up and down the back of a female student who is standing close to him.
At one point, his hand slowly motions down her lower back, then across her waist, which is when Holland appears to pull her closer towards him.
The video was reportedly sent to the TV station by a concerned parent, who also revealed that multiple students have complained about the baseball coach having inappropriately touched them in the past. Another parent claimed the baseball coach was consoling the student through a family death.
An Eagleville High School history teacher, Travis Holland has been suspended without pay after the district saw this video. The parent who sent us this says multiple students have complained about him touching them inappropriately. @FOXNashville pic.twitter.com/xrQ6nJKqOi
— Nicole Johnson Fox17 (@NicoleReporting) May 22, 2019
While RCS spokesman James Evans said they were first made aware of the video on Tuesday, May 21, Holland was not immediately suspended.
In fact, he even coached the school's team against Lake County at Spring Fling on Wednesday, a game from which he was ejected and which they eventually lost 8-5.
Evans explained that they had done an initial review as soon as it was brought to their attention and that they had notified parents before taking it up with the authorities. However, both law enforcement and the Department of Children's Services declined to investigate the case further after reviewing the footage.
The spokesman said RCS suspended the coach after they learned that the authorities would not be pursuing the case further and that they would now be conducting an independent investigation of their own regarding the matter.
"We were notified yesterday of the video and did an initial review, but then deferred to law enforcement and DCS for their review. We have now heard back from both agencies and they are not pursuing any further investigation. However, the school district has suspended the employee without pay pending the outcome of a district investigation," a school statement read.
The video did not sit well with social media users, who made their feelings about Holland abundantly clear. "Sex offender list. He should not be around kids," one wrote, while another remarked, "This comfortable? In front of other students? He’s done this before. Throw the whole book at him."
"Wow. That is creepy and brazen. Props to the students recognizing this disgusting behavior and discreetly recording. Teacher should lose his job. This is beyond inappropriate," a third person commented.
The district's investigation is currently ongoing and the baseball coach will remain suspended pending its outcome.