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TROUP COACH CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT OF MINORS
TROUP - A girls' basketball coach at Troup Middle School, in jail Friday on charges of sexually assaulting at least two teenage girls, had been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon last August - before the school district hired him.
Samuel Antonio Sutton, known as Tony, turned himself in to the Troup Police Department on Friday, about two weeks after he resigned from Troup Independent School District. The 24-year-old hometown coach, who also taught junior high science classes, did not cite a reason for stepping down, district officials said.
Brett Harrison, first assistant district attorney for Smith County, received the sexual assault cases late Friday. An arrest affidavit was not
immediately available, but Harrison said the charges involve alleged acts with 15- a
nd 17-year-old Troup students, and a 14-year-old student at Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler.
Harrison did not immediately have access to details about the arrest in August or whether that case went before a grand jury.
Newly hired Troup school superintendent Marvin Beaty attended his first school board meeting last year on the night Sutton was hired.
Beaty said he was not aware of the assault with a deadly weapon charge until September.
"The principal and our personnel department looked into it and recommended to me that it was not an issue we needed to be concerned about," Beaty said, adding he had assurances it was "an isolated incident."
According to jail records, Sutton was booked into the Smith County Jail on Aug. 8 and released on $25,000 bond after being charged with the second degree felony.
Beaty said the district performs criminal background check
s on all prospective employees. He said district officials spoke with listed and unlisted references of Sutton, including peo
ple who knew him as he grew up in Troup.
"Having been a student here, there was quite a number of people that knew him, and all spoke very highly of him," Beaty said.
He said the arrest last August was never discussed by the school board.
Board Vice President Homer Jones said he did not recall whether he heard about or discussed the arrest last year. He declined to comment further.
Sutton now faces a first degree felony charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and three second degree felony charges: sexual assault of a child and two cases of improper relationship between an educator and a student. Sutton's bond was set at $300,000.
At least one of the alleged crimes happened April 11, and a second suspect has not been captured, Harrison said.
Beaty said none of the alleged acts occurred on school property or during scho
ol events.
In January, Sutton pleaded guilty to criminal trespass, a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to six months probation, 50 hours of community service a
nd a $300 fine.
MOTHER SPEAKS
The mother of the alleged 14-year-old victim said the girl was taken by a friend to a home where Sutton was present, and she and Sutton were "total strangers" because she attended Lee High School.
When the girl returned home, "you could just tell she was really shaken, crying," the mother said. "I called the police and we went to the emergency room immediately."
The mother suggested the other alleged victims did not immediately come forward with complaints because they were afraid.
"No parent thinks anything about letting their child go somewhere with a schoolteacher," she said, adding, "If it can happen to mine, it can happen to somebody else."
'OUTSTANDING YOUNG COACH'
Sutton was a three-sport letterman in fo
otball, basketball and track for Troup High School, where he graduated in 1999. He went on to play strong safety for Tyler Junior College, and defensive back for Middle Tennessee State University, where he signed on in 2001.
Andy Griffin,
Troup head football coach and athletic director, said he never saw any character problems in Sutton.
"He did a good job for us in football," he said. "He's an outstanding young coach."
The basketball coaching job was his first employment with the school district.
"Tony did a good job on campus, did a good job in his classroom, did a good job coaching with us," Beaty said. "I know it's a sad day for Tony and a sad day for his family, and a sad day for any children that are involved in (the allegations). It's something that we grieve over ... you just truly hope it's not true."
Beaty noted all chaperones, parents and other people who accompany students on or off campus for school-sanctio
ned events receive criminal background checks.
"We want to take care of our kids and take every precaution to do that," he said. "In a (class) 2A school, we dote over our children like they were our own children."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=...id=226369&rfi=6
TROUP - A girls' basketball coach at Troup Middle School, in jail Friday on charges of sexually assaulting at least two teenage girls, had been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon last August - before the school district hired him.
Samuel Antonio Sutton, known as Tony, turned himself in to the Troup Police Department on Friday, about two weeks after he resigned from Troup Independent School District. The 24-year-old hometown coach, who also taught junior high science classes, did not cite a reason for stepping down, district officials said.
Brett Harrison, first assistant district attorney for Smith County, received the sexual assault cases late Friday. An arrest affidavit was not
immediately available, but Harrison said the charges involve alleged acts with 15- a
nd 17-year-old Troup students, and a 14-year-old student at Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler.
Harrison did not immediately have access to details about the arrest in August or whether that case went before a grand jury.
Newly hired Troup school superintendent Marvin Beaty attended his first school board meeting last year on the night Sutton was hired.
Beaty said he was not aware of the assault with a deadly weapon charge until September.
"The principal and our personnel department looked into it and recommended to me that it was not an issue we needed to be concerned about," Beaty said, adding he had assurances it was "an isolated incident."
According to jail records, Sutton was booked into the Smith County Jail on Aug. 8 and released on $25,000 bond after being charged with the second degree felony.
Beaty said the district performs criminal background check
s on all prospective employees. He said district officials spoke with listed and unlisted references of Sutton, including peo
ple who knew him as he grew up in Troup.
"Having been a student here, there was quite a number of people that knew him, and all spoke very highly of him," Beaty said.
He said the arrest last August was never discussed by the school board.
Board Vice President Homer Jones said he did not recall whether he heard about or discussed the arrest last year. He declined to comment further.
Sutton now faces a first degree felony charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and three second degree felony charges: sexual assault of a child and two cases of improper relationship between an educator and a student. Sutton's bond was set at $300,000.
At least one of the alleged crimes happened April 11, and a second suspect has not been captured, Harrison said.
Beaty said none of the alleged acts occurred on school property or during scho
ol events.
In January, Sutton pleaded guilty to criminal trespass, a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to six months probation, 50 hours of community service a
nd a $300 fine.
MOTHER SPEAKS
The mother of the alleged 14-year-old victim said the girl was taken by a friend to a home where Sutton was present, and she and Sutton were "total strangers" because she attended Lee High School.
When the girl returned home, "you could just tell she was really shaken, crying," the mother said. "I called the police and we went to the emergency room immediately."
The mother suggested the other alleged victims did not immediately come forward with complaints because they were afraid.
"No parent thinks anything about letting their child go somewhere with a schoolteacher," she said, adding, "If it can happen to mine, it can happen to somebody else."
'OUTSTANDING YOUNG COACH'
Sutton was a three-sport letterman in fo
otball, basketball and track for Troup High School, where he graduated in 1999. He went on to play strong safety for Tyler Junior College, and defensive back for Middle Tennessee State University, where he signed on in 2001.
Andy Griffin,
Troup head football coach and athletic director, said he never saw any character problems in Sutton.
"He did a good job for us in football," he said. "He's an outstanding young coach."
The basketball coaching job was his first employment with the school district.
"Tony did a good job on campus, did a good job in his classroom, did a good job coaching with us," Beaty said. "I know it's a sad day for Tony and a sad day for his family, and a sad day for any children that are involved in (the allegations). It's something that we grieve over ... you just truly hope it's not true."
Beaty noted all chaperones, parents and other people who accompany students on or off campus for school-sanctio
ned events receive criminal background checks.
"We want to take care of our kids and take every precaution to do that," he said. "In a (class) 2A school, we dote over our children like they were our own children."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=...id=226369&rfi=6
