WYTHEVILLE — George Wythe High School head football coach H.S. Ingo, 47, has been charged with hazing and subjecting a student to corporal punishment in connection with an incident at the end of January involving an 11th-grade football player.
Both charges are misdemeanors and will be heard in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court of Wythe County. The Wythe County School Board has called a special meeting for Wednesday to discuss personnel matters regarding two employees.
Initially, a second coach, Adam Hughes, was named in the accusations; however, Vaught said in a news release “that no charges have been issued in regard to any other person.”
Both coaches were suspended with pay until the investigation concluded.
Grayson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Douglas Vaught announced the charges Friday afternoon. Vaught was appointed as a special prosecutor in the case after Wythe County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerald Mabe withdrew from the case. Mabe’s wife, Leslie, is the music teacher at Spiller Elementary School. Her principal, Kim Ingo, is the wife of the head coach.
A source close to the situation told the Wytheville Enterprise that the charges stem from actions after a George Wythe and Fort Chiswell basketball game on Jan. 30 at Fort Chiswell High School. A football player with ties to the Fort Chiswell area sat on the Fort Chiswell side, clapping and cheering with his friends.
The next day, in the George Wythe weight room, the coach lectured the player in front of several of his teammates and told him that if he wanted to be a team player and leader, there were consequences for his actions.
The source said the coach called it punishment and told the player he could transfer to Fort Chiswell if that was what he wanted.
The source said the coach made the player walk around the football field area wearing chains across his chest in an “X” while carrying 50-pound weights in each hand. The player, who weighs about 140 pounds, had to walk around the field and do squats every time one of the coaches blew a whistle. When the player reached the visitors side of the field, he had to go up and down the bleachers, still performing squats when a whistle blew, the source said.
The source said that the backs of the player’s legs were raw from where the weights rubbed against them as he walked and did squats.
News of the investigation surfaced on Feb. 6, when Mabe’s office announced that it was referring the matter to the Virginia State Police because the investigation involved some minors who are closely related to employees of the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office. The Smyth County Department of Social Services also investigated the case.
Soon after news of the investigation broke, the football player involved in the investigation posted a note on his Facebook page saying that a parent had witnessed whatever happened to him and reported it to authorities.
“In all honesty, I respect and love my coaches,” he wrote. “It wasn’t right, but it’s not as serious as it has been said to be.”
School officials have declined to comment on the matter.
