The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said it would charge a Georgia football coach with child abuse after a viral video showed him hitting a young child during a game in Kissimmee.
The incident happened on Dec. 7 in Kissimmee when the Savannah Gators were playing in the American Youth Football (AYF) National Championship.
The video, which has been viewed more than 4 million times on Twitter, shows the coach, Gerrel Williams, of Savannah, slapping one of the players in the helmet. Williams then hits the boy again, and he falls to the ground.
The division was for 7-year-olds and under.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office incident report said a deputy spoke to the head of AYF who said Williams was expelled from the league and was banned from attending future games.
The report, however, said the player’s mother currently has not pressed charges against Williams.
“The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office along with our local state attorney’s office have reviewed this case and the decision has been made that charges for child abuse will be filed, regardless of parent’s decision not to press charges,” Maj. Jacob Ruiz said in a statement. “The actions of this person are despicable and there is zero-tolerance when it comes to the abuse of a child.”
Williams has since apologized on a Facebook video.
“I’m not going to make excuses for what I did. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have disciplined him in public, I should’ve waited until we got back,” Williams said on the video. “At the end of the day, I apologize to him, the kids, the city down here and my family back at home.”
According to media reports, Williams has since been expelled from American Youth Football and not able to attend any games, and he was fired as a detention center counselor in Georgia.
The video can be seen at https://twitter.com/CoachFore/status/1336552178090012673
