Note: It is KRBD's policy not to identify victims of assault without their explicit permission. The victim in this article gave permission through his attorney to be included in KRBD's reporting.
A jury on Friday found a Ketchikan High School volleyball coach and teacher guilty of misdemeanor assault and harassment charges after he grabbed a then-17-year-old female player by the wrist during a volleyball scrimmage.
The courtroom was packed and tense. Family and friends of victim Riley McCue and defendant Kevin Johnson crowded on opposite sides of the courtroom. The case divided Ketchikan when the charges were filed two years ago, and the controversy has only grown more heated in the month leading up to trial.
Riley McCue, 19, currently plays NCAA Division II volleyball at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Prior to that, she was a varsity athlete at Ketchikan High School. Kevin Johnson was her coach.
Assistant Attorney General Daniel Shorey represented the state. He told the jury in his opening statement that McCue missed his serve during a scrimmage in August 2022. The charges stem from an incident that was captured on video during a scrimmage.
Shorey showed the jury a video – teams record every scrimmage to improve their games. In the video, Johnson and McCue walk towards each other from opposite sides of the net.
“He grabs her wrist. He pulls her towards him,” Shorey told jurors in a voiceover as the video played. “At this point, Riley is not only feeling the physical pain of being grabbed and pulled, but also the fear of what this much larger, older man might do to him. She begs him to let her go, but he doesn't at first. Finally, he pushes her back where she stumbles.
The state claims Johnson's actions recklessly caused physical and emotional harm to the teenage girl, amounting to assault and harassment.
Rex Butler, Johnson's attorney, said the interpretation of the video takes it out of context.
“What you're going to see over the course of this lawsuit is a good, passionate coach who brings that passion to practice. Like a lot of coaches, I'm looking forward to seeing evidence that he brings that passion to the game. Coaches, passive coaches often don't win,” Butler said in the opening statement. said in a statement.
Mr. McCue was the state's first witness. She told the court it was difficult for her to return to Ketchikan.
“Honestly, just getting off the plane and crossing on the ferry. There was a lot. There's a lot of negative feelings about being here,” she said.
However, she spoke fondly about volleyball.
“I love it. I love getting better every day. I go to practice with the desire to get better, learn, and improve myself. That means a lot to me.” McCue said. She discovered the sport in middle school, attended camps in the summer, and talked about what it's like to play in college.
Shorey then asked her about the incident and how it felt.
“I'm scared. I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated. I feel violated. I feel disgusted. It's just been so hard. And I just feel like nothing happened. I had to keep going,” she said.
Defense attorney Butler questioned McCue's testimony regarding the impact of the incident.
He painted a picture of a coach who was deeply focused on the success of the girls he coached throughout his four years at the school. And he portrayed McCue as a star athlete who wasn't keen on accepting criticism.
“And you had a problem with Coach Johnson criticizing your serve that day, right?” he asked while cross-examining McCue. “Actually, you were like, 'He must not have seen my performance for him to come in and criticize me like that,' right?”
“Yes, sir,” McCue replied.
The trial continued like this, with state prosecutors laying out their case for the fear and hurt that the incident had instilled in McCue and her teammates. The defense, however, countered that Johnson was a good and capable coach and that he had no criminal intent.
On the second day, Johnson refused to testify and the parties moved on to closing arguments.
“I would argue that you can't take that five seconds and turn it into a crime,” Butler told the jury. He said this was not a case of an unknown man grabbing a girl on the street. It was a coach trying to inspire one of his athletes.
The prosecutor walked around in front of the jury during his argument.
“What? Is it like an ego trip for her to come here?” Shorey said, taking exception to what he called the defense's insinuations, this was all “poorly accepted.” I asked if it was about “critical criticism”. “Why don’t you sit her down and look at the man who hurt her? Are you crying? Ego trip? No, this is probably the worst thing that ever happened to her. ”
He then gestured across the room toward Johnson.
“It's wrong to grab a girl like that. It's a crime,” the prosecutor said, “an adult has no right to do something like that. People wonder if that's an excuse for something.” “He coached.'' No, he didn't! He was in pain! ”
The jury deliberated for about an hour and returned to court with a verdict.
Guilty of two counts of fourth-degree assault and one count of second-degree harassment. After the verdict was read, Kevin Johnson spoke for the first time in court.
“I believe I stood tall and probably didn't get the results I wanted. But that's part of the process. And for that, I'm grateful, to you. I'm grateful, I'm grateful to the prosecutor, I'm grateful to the family for being here, this is a community, it's part of the process, so what God has in store for me. Whatever it is, I'm going to face it,'' Johnson told the judge.
Judge Daniel Doty handed down the verdict immediately after the verdict. He said it was necessary to consider the lasting impact the incident would have on McCue and his family.
Doty said regardless of people's feelings about the incident, according to an impartial jury this was a crime. He said the unique nature of the case forced the community to ask tough questions, such as “what can a coach endure in the name of victory?”
“It's an expectation that all children and people who are more vulnerable in our society will shape themselves based on the behavior of people who are more powerful, more physical, more aggressive than others.” ''Doty said, recalling his experiences with offensive coaches from his own childhood.
He told the court how he thinks the role of coaches and the way cases like this are heard has changed.
“So I think we're not necessarily reaffirming societal norms here, but we're trying to figure out what those new norms are and what we expect from coaches and people in positions of authority going forward.” The judge said:
Johnson will not serve any jail time unless he violates the terms of his 18-month probation. The judge did not again prohibit him from instructing minors. He said youth sports programs can police themselves and doesn't believe Johnson is a danger to the community.