A group of female athletes at a Charlotte-area high school have been suspended after protesting their school’s decision to allow a football player to participate in a recent game after he had been charged with sexually assaulting another student.
On Friday, Oct. 1, Sereniti Simpson and other members of the girls’ varsity volleyball team at Olympic High School staged a walkout to call attention to the way their school handles reports of sexual misconduct, particularly for student athletes.
Florida vet sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison for child porn, bestiality charges
“We’re out here today because we’re not going to let them silence our voices anymore,” Simpson told local station WCNC at the time. “If you get your phone taken in class, you’re benched, but yet he can be under investigation for a sexual crime and still get to play on Friday, that is ridiculous.”
Brianna Moncada, a senior at the school, told the station that coaches covered the 15-year-old player’s ankle monitor before allowing him to take the stage.
Because of the ages of the students involved, neither Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department or Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools could confirm the identity of the accused student, and thus could not confirm that he played in the game in question. CMPD did confirm that a 15-year-old male student at Olympic was arrested and charged with attempted second-degree rape, second-degree kidnapping, and sexual battery on Sept. 14, following an incident which had taken place the day before.
