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South Shore track coach allegedly caught on camera inappropriately touching athlete
Andrew Wayne pleaded not guilty and said he would “never cause harm” to the kids he’s coached over a 20-year career.
A former track coach at Hingham High School faces criminal charges after allegedly touching a female student on the team inappropriately last week.
Local News:
Andrew Wayne, 82, of Norwell, pleaded not guilty to two charges of assault and battery, including one charge of indecent assault and battery.
The student, whose name has not been released, said that while she and her teammates were doing a drill in which they placed their hands against the wall and ran in place, Wayne “walked up to her, grabbed and slapped her buttocks and pushed her into the school refrigerator that she was currently holding onto while performing the drill,” according to court paperwork.
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He later grabbed her by the shoulder and asked if she was OK and if someone on the team was picking on her.
“Sorry for picking on you, your form is really bad, and we will work on it,” he said, while holding the girl’s shoulder in what she described as not a “reassuring grab,” but more of a claw grip that “made her feel extremely uncomfortable,” she said.
She went to HHS Track Head Coach Kevin Murphy, who was “very supportive.” HHS Athletic Director James Quatrimoni reported the incident to police and Wayne was put on leave the day the victim reported the incident.
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School surveillance footage captured the alleged incident, which School Resource Officer Thomas Ford said included Wayne “making direct contact with her body” on her buttocks and lower back.
“You see [victim] physically react to the touches, and then looks over to see her friend put her hands to her face as if she appeared shocked,” Ford said.
In the second interaction, Wayne touched her shoulder and “[led] her away from her teammates.”
“She appears uneasy in this interaction, similar to the first encounter described above,” Ford said.
Wayne, in a statement to police, said he “would never cause harm to the kids that he coaches,” and that he “did not recall touching her in the way [she] described.” He said that he has never faced accusations of this kind.
Wayne is on release until he is due back in court on March 5. He has been ordered to have no contact, direct or indirect, with the victim, and to stay away from Hingham High School and its track.
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