No Charges Against Former Denver Coach For Forcing Cheerleaders Into Splits

The Denver District Attorney's office announced Saturday it would not file any criminal charges against a former gym coach who came under fire after he was seen on video forcing cheerleaders into doing painful splits during practice.

District Attorney Beth McCann said in a statement released Saturday there was insufficient evidence to press charges against Odell Williams after the police conducted an investigation.

“In order to prove a charge of criminal behavior, the case must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt,” McCann said and added that bad judgment on the coach’s part did not constitute a prosecutable crime.

In the video that went viral in August, a cheerleader in East High School in Denver is seen being forced into the split position by Williams, who was newly-hired. After the incident, her mother stated she suffered injuries to her leg from the forced exercise.

The video gave way to widespread criticism following which Williams was fired at the coach, an athletic director of the school resigned and the principal retired.

An independent investigation ordered by the Denver Public Schools’ superintendent showed that then-principal, Andy Mendelsberg, had misled other administrators about multiple aspects of the incident including the existence of the videos and the injuries suffered by the cheerleader.

The statement by the DA’s office further read:

“The video of the incident involving the injured student that has been widely disseminated is painful to watch. However, after a very thorough and careful review of all of the evidence gathered in the investigation and the statements of many members of the cheerleading squad, I have concluded that the evidence does not support the filing of criminal charges.

In order to prove a charge of criminal behavior, the case must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. There are differing opinions regarding the use of this technique of cheerleading training. While I believe the technique should not be used, that is not the standard of proof for a criminal case. Most of the cheerleading squad participated in the technique that day, and there are differing accounts of the circumstances.

The individual involved should not be a coach in high school sports and he no longer is. The principal and athletic director of the school have retired and resigned. The message should be clear that this type of technique has no place in high school cheerleading coaching. The bad judgment of the coach, however, does not constitute a prosecutable crime.”

Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg thanked the DA’s office and the Denver Police Department for investigating the case and also asked the media to stop sharing the video of the cheerleaders being forced into splits reported the Denver Post.

“Our top priority has been, and will continue to be, the safety and well-being of our students,” Boasberg said. “In support of this, and to allow our students to continue healing, we would ask news media to refrain from showing videos of the ‘forced splits’ in covering this issue.”