COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A former high school basketball coach is on trial this week on allegations of hitting players in the groin with basketballs, a clipboard and other objects.
Gregory Lynn Burr is charged with sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and other counts. He is accused of hitting nine 14- to 16-year-old boys during the 2005-06 season at Monument Academy, a charter school in the Lewis-Palmer district.
District Judge David Miller told jurors Burr is accused of assaulting the students for abuse, not sexual gratification.
Prosecutor Nan Scranton said Wednesday that one boy had to have surgery after he was hit several times in the groin.
A former player testified that a teammate writhed in agony for 15 minutes after Burr threw a tennis ball that struck him in the groin.
“You could just tell he was in a lot of pain,” the boy testified. “His face was red and, like, squeezed.”
Defense attorney Philip Dubois said the boys were exaggerating and had invented some of their stories.
“At no time did Greg Burr ever say to himself or others, ‘I’m going to inflict some pain by hitting them in the testicles,'” Dubois said in his opening statement. “At no time did he say to himself, ‘I’m going to torture this student or abuse him.'”
Monument Academy officials have said he no longer works at the school.
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Information from: The Gazette,
