Caught on Tape: Mississippi Coach Caught Whipping High School Student
Coach Marlon Dorsey says he was trying to "save these young men."
Nov. 12, 2010— -- A Mississippi high school basketball coach caught on tape whipping his players has defended the punishment, saying he was trying to "save these young men."
Murrah High School coach Marlon Dorsey has since been suspended for violently paddling his students' backsides, but at least one of the players' parents says the punishment is insufficient.
"First instinct I was very angry and I was outraged," said Jason Hubbard, who witnessed the beatings at practice and whose son was one of the whipped players.
The parents have since filed suit in federal court, accusing Dorsey of beating their sons "with a five to 10 pound weight belt," beginning in late September.
The beatings, the lawsuit claimed, resulted from the players' "failing to run the basketball plays correctly."
Players, the suit continued, were told that if they complained, they would forfeit the opportunity to play basketball at the Jackson school and that one of the boys was whipped daily.
But Dorsey said in a statement that he was only trying to help the players.
"I took it upon myself to save these young men from the destruction of self and what society has accepted and become silent to the issues our students are facing on a daily basis," he said in the statement. "I am deeply remorseful of my actions to help our students."
His statement seems to have only further angered the students' parents. Hubbard said he doesn't buy it that his son needed saving.
"Our son is not a thug, is not somewhere out stealing or doing bad things. He's an honor student," Hubbard said. "To buy into that is kind of an excuse to me."
Other parents agreed.
"It's not his job to save our children. They don't need saving in that way," said Betty Hubbard, a mother of one of the basketball players. "They need him to teach them the game of basketball."
Parent Darnell Caldwell said, "I don't think it's right for anybody to put their hands on somebody else's child."
But some in Jackson are questioning whether this is something that should cost the coach his job.
"If something went on, they say, 'Well, I'm going to tell your coach and your coach gets you in line," parent Steven Smith said. "That's how it was back in the day."
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