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Police: JV player beaten for wearing opponent's colors while coaches watched

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Georgia high school is looking into allegations of a vicious beating captured on social media.

According to police, the fight occurred in the Camden County High School locker room, and was witnessed by three football coaches.

Officers learned about the alleged beating when they were called to a Southeast East Georgia Health Systems on Monday afternoon, after a junior varsity player reported being assaulted by several teammates.

The report says two coaches became upset after the player wore black — the opposing team’s color — to last Friday’s game against rivals Glynn County. The player, who is not identified in the report, said he wore black in order to support his girlfriend, a Glynn County cheerleader.

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According to police, assistant coach Dereck Chastain and offensive coordinator Greg Slatery allegedly told the younger players’ teammates that they quote “needed to handle their boy” for wearing black.

After Monday’s noon practice, the report says, three assistant coaches – Derek Chestain, Cedrick Corse and Donald Green – watched as the JV player was kicked, beaten and thrown headfirst into a trash can, before being rolled down a hall. The fight was captured on social media, but has since been deleted from YouTube.

The three coaches allegedly in the locker room at the time have a combined 33 years of coaching at Camden County High School, according to the school’s website.

The school confirmed to TEGNA partner First Coast News that the incident occurred. In a statement, school officials said the “harassment” yielded “consequences” for the students involved, but that their investigation “did not indicate any wrongdoing by adults.”

“Should [law enforcement] investigation reveal new evidence that adults were complicit in any of the events that occured,” the statment reads. “They will be held accountable for their actions.”

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The school’s principal and the district superintendent were not immediately available for comment.

Head Coach Welton Coffey told us the school “does not tolerate” that behavior. He said the administration has “dealt with” those involved, but would not say specifically what punishment they faced. He added that all parties involved in the incident are “safe on campus” and continuing to prepare for their Friday night game against Brunswick.

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