Two Former Bauxite Athletes Arrested after Sexual Assault Investigation

UPDATE OCT 19, 2018

News came out today that two former baseball players at Bauxite High School, Gage Lester, 18, and Lorenz Fehrenbacher, 18, have been arrested after a sexual assault investigation stemming from hazing incident. KATV has more story here: https://katv.com/news/local/2-former-bauxite-baseball-players-arrested-following-sexual-assault-hazing-investigation

UPDATE APR 12, 2018

We heard Wednesday that three Bauxite students on the baseball team were expelled after a hazing incident. The coaches that were on the school bus when this happened were on paid administrative leave from their coaching duties, but on Thursday afternoon, they were put on admin leave from their teaching duties as well, pending the outcome of the investigation. See more on this on KATV’s website where Marine Glisovic has been following the story: http://katv.com/news/local/two-bauxite-coaches-now-on-paid-leave-from-all-duties-during-investigation

BREAKING: Both Bauxite Baseball Head Coach Michael Mattox and Assistant Coach Steven Tew were placed on paid administrative leave from ALL duties on April 10th the district tells @KATVNews #arnews pic.twitter.com/QsijsfRt1W

— Marine Glisovic KATV (@KATVMarine) April 12, 2018

UPDATE APR 11, 2018

The Bauxite School Board deliberated and all three students involved have been expelled for the remainder of the school year.

BREAKING: All three Bauxite students expelled for the school year 17-18. #arnews @KATVNews

— Marine Glisovic KATV (@KATVMarine) April 12, 2018

UPDATE APR 11, 2018

The Bauxite School Board is discussing what will happen next for three students who have been on suspension from school.

Marine Glisovic from KATV is live-tweeting the meeting. It will be decided whether the students will be expelled for the rest of the school year. Follow more from Marine on Twitter.com/KATVMarine

MORE:One Bauxite parent has chosen to share why their student is having an expulsion hearing tonight.Parents confirm they received the same letter for all 3 students who have hearings tonight. The board’s reasoning for these hearings: Sexual harassment/hazing of students #arnews pic.twitter.com/8lwzjZFAJx

— Marine Glisovic KATV (@KATVMarine) April 12, 2018

UPDATE APR 6, 2018

Marine Glisovic of KATV interviewed Bauxite baseball players that were on the bus during the incident. Similar to Josh Briggs’ article below, the boys say the rumor of rape is false. See the video here: http://katv.com/news/local/it-was-horseplay-bauxite-student-athletes-under-investigation-deny-sexual-abuse-claims

WATCH: Three Bauxite baseball players under investigation after AR State Police began a sexual abuse investigation tell @KATVNews it was horseplay, no one was sexually abused, and both coaches were on the bus + mom says this needs to end…MORE: https://t.co/viAzCJCyvB #ARNEWS pic.twitter.com/ShboP2Y11q

— Marine Glisovic KATV (@KATVMarine) April 6, 2018

UPDATE APR 6, 2018

According to Josh Briggs at the Saline Courier, a Bauxite athlete has come out to say exactly what happened on the bus ride home. Sawyer Webb says it wasn’t sexual abuse. Read Briggs’ story here: http://bentoncourier.com/content/bauxite-player-details-bus-ride-incident

UPDATE APR 5, 2018:

The administration at Bauxite Schools says the two baseball coaches who were present during the hazing incident on now on paid leave. See the update from KATV here: http://katv.com/news/local/bauxite-school-districts-hazing-investigation-includes-sexual-abuse-allegations

BREAKING: Bauxite Baseball Coach Mattox and Coach Tew placed on paid administrative leave from baseball coaching duties pending the results of the investigation. As previously reported, state police investigating hazing, @KATVNews discovered it’s sexual abuse allegations #arnews

— Marine Glisovic KATV (@KATVMarine) April 5, 2018

UPDATE APR 4, 2018:

State officials have now confirmed that this incident under investigation is sexual in nature. KATV obtained an email from the Arkansas Department of Human Services that confirms this. See their article and video here: http://katv.com/news/local/bauxite-school-districts-hazing-investigation-includes-sexual-abuse-allegations

As reported earlier, Bauxite Schools is investigating an incident that administration described as hazing. The Arkansas State Police is doing their own investigation.

EDITORIAL APR 3, 2018:

Several MySaline readers are asking what happened with the Bauxite Baseball team early in March. Parents in the school district told me some very specific things on Friday, March 30th that I won’t repeat here. True or false, it’s rumor and not proven.

It’s true that the Arkansas State Police (ASP) is investigating an incident that some are defining as hazing. I urge the school district and school board to take the right amount of time to deliberate and do the right thing, regardless of what it could mean to the baseball season. I also urge the community to refrain from public comments about exactly what happened. If you have evidence of any type, report it to the ASP, not to social media.

This is a story where minors are involved, so we all need to tread lightly. Stories like this make me wish I’d picked a different profession. I waited this long to say anything because sometimes it’s not important to be first. It’s important to do everything correctly. I am just hoping for justice here.

Here are some articles that other news sources have published. It doesn’t say much, but I would wager they have heard the same rumors I have.