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GASTONIA, NC – Deliberations continue Tuesday in the trial of a former coach accused of abusing wrestlers. Jurors are considering 20 sex charges against Gary “Scott” Goins.
“Don’t make something perverted out of something precious! And that’s what the state wants to do,” Defense Attorney Brent Ratchford told jurors, during closing arguments.
Ratchford says Goins had a close, fatherly relationship with his wrestlers. But not a sexual one. He tried to convince jurors that prosecutors haven’t proven their case against the former East Gaston High wrestling coach.
“Just because you say it, doesn’t mean it happened!” Ratchford told them.
Three accusers say Goins touched them inappropriately and forced them to perform sex acts. Most of the alleged incidents happened on trips or inside the school during the late 1990s.
“It’s the truth!” Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Hamlin told jurors. Hamlin says Goins had control over wrestlers’ minds and bodies, and they were too afraid to speak up earlier.
“They were kids. They were young kids. I mean they were 12, 13, 14, 15-year-old kids,” she says.
Hamlin told the jury the three accusers had nothing to gain by coming forward now. “It’s not unusual. That is not unusual. Kids don’t know how to tell. They don’t know who to tell. Happens all the time,” she said.
Defense witnesses, though, claim one accuser wanted Goins’ job and other wrestlers were upset about being thrown off the team for drug and alcohol violations.
