A high school football coach from Spokane, Washington, has been suspended after students accused him of stuffing his private parts in a hot dog bun and exposing himself during a team cookout.
Several students came forward to accuse football coach and teacher Jim Sharkey of the Spokane Public School District’s Ferris High School of exposing himself and other incidents of sexual misconduct, The Spokane-Review reported.
Students told school officials that the incident occurred last August during a football leadership camp held at a 1,000-acre property that Sharkey’s family owns along the Coeur d’Alene River, near Cataldo, Idaho.
In the weeks following the camp last year, a student came forward to report the misconduct saying that during a cookout Sharkey put his penis into a hot dog bun and said, “You think that is a big dog — take a look at this.”
Initially, the coach received a written reprimand and no other punishment, but in the months following the hot dog bun incident other students have come forward to allege other types of misconduct. One such allegation charges that Sharkey called a teenaged girl a “puck slut,” or “puck bunny,” for hanging around the boy’s hockey team too much.
A more shocking accusation maintains that Sharkey was aware of, and did nothing to stop, football players being held on the ground while other players stuck their fingers in the incapacitated student’s anus. The practice, supposedly called “juicing,” was commonly perpetrated on students celebrating a birthday.
For his part, the coach admitted to saying some of the things students claimed he said.
“I think some of this stuff is taken out of context, but I did say these things,” Sharkey admitted in a school document.
But, Sharkey went on to say he is the subject of a “witch hunt,” and disputes most of the allegations lodged against him, especially the “juicing” claims.
“I would not allow this. No way,” Sharkey reportedly said of the “juicing” charges. “You better have dates and times of the juicing — if you say 10-15 times — you just better be able to tell me exactly when, who.”
“This is a witch hunt,” Sharkey said according to notes reported by the paper. “I do a lot for this school. It is going to be difficult to replace me at this time.”
Sharkey was placed on administrative leave with pay while the school investigates the charges, the school district reported.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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