Our View: There’s lots of blame to go around
June 20, 2018
The dog days of summer are here
June 20, 2018
The highest-ranking official at Terrebonne Parish Recreation has resigned after a lengthy news investigation showed that a suspected sex trafficker was coaching a TPR-sanctioned basketball team this year.
TPR Director Sterling Washington announced his resignation last week – just a day after WWL-TV Channel 4 did an online exclusive story and video package, which revealed that Derrian Williams coached TPR’s U8 Biddy Basketball Girls’ All-Star Team in several games this past season.
Williams, 30, was arrested in February 2017 and is charged with child sex trafficking after he allegedly met a girl on social media, drove to Mississippi to meet her, then brought her back to Houma and told her that she had to have sex to repay her debts.
Williams is out on bond after the initial arrest and will face trial for the charges in September.
After TPR learned of Williams’ arrest, Washington reportedly met with Williams and demanded that he not coach in the future.
Williams initially denied coaching the team, claiming that just took a photo with the team and posted it on his social media to celebrate a victory he enjoyed as a fan.
But in WWL’s investigation, they obtained several photos and videos of Williams coaching from the bench at tournaments, which disproved that theory and which placed pressure on Washington’s department, which eventually led to his resignation.
Attempts to reach Washington were unsuccessful at press-time on Monday morning. Terrebonne Parish President Gordon Dove’s office confirmed Washington’s resignation.
Williams has not spoken publicly since the WWL report, but he did take to social media to thank people for support. In the Facebook post, which has since been deleted, he said the “initial situation was on me,” but added that it “didn’t make any sense” to talk about the Biddy team.
The post in its entirety is below – post with the exact grammar and spelling used on Facebook.
“I appreciate all my family and friends for their support, I can’t go into detail cuz obviously some people out there looking to bring me down … The initial situation was on me but bringing these kids into it didn’t make any sense, I still love my city regardless of the few snakes…. If you know me then you know me and if you don’t I can understand your feelings. I guess its really NOT innocent until proven guilty smh #ItsInGodsHands,” Williams said.
For Washington, his resignation marks the first time in almost 20 years that TPR will have someone other than him running its youth recreation department.
The outgoing director was a championship-winning coach at Ellender Memorial High School before leaving the school system to become TPR’s director almost 20 years ago.
In his time with TPR, the organization’s Biddy Basketball teams have enjoyed great success, winning several championships – especially in recent years.
On social media, several Houma natives said they supported Williams and a post made last week urged citizens to attend yesterday’s parish council meeting to urge Dove to consider not accepting Washington’s resignation. That post generated dozens of comments from former coaches and players who said that Washington impacted their lives in a positive way.
But others don’t feel the same way.
Three parents spoke to The Times this weekend and they all said they didn’t think Williams should have been part of a coaching staff with his legal situation still in flux.
The parents asked to remain anonymous because of fear that their children would be given unfair treatment later in their careers if coached by someone who is friends with Williams.
One parent said the situation was “disgraceful,” and another said that she doesn’t think her child will play for TPR next year.
“These are kids,” the parent said. “This is not for money or for millions and millions of dollars like the NBA. These are kids. They are playing and they are having fun. For me to have to sit down this week and have my child ask me why Coach Derrian was on TV, it’s just sad. This should have never happened. And it’s just sad that this is the world that we live in. You think you can trust someone but you just never know.”
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