It's never okay to violently attack a woman... unless you're part of a protected group. Then the media will ignore your purported crime (or even defend you).
Wayne Dolcefino reports:
The family of a young female cheerleader assaulted at Ranger College this summer says their daughter, her teammates and their coach all faced retaliation after the July incident because it involved a trans cheerleader.
“It is not fair for these 17, 18, and 19-year-old kids to be suffering and to be screwed out of entire year of cheering and making friends and memories,” said Nicole Turner, the former Ranger cheer coach.
State Representative Valoree Swanson calls this another case of trans retaliation sweeping the country and says she will move to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports at state funding schools and will include protections for cheerleaders and drill teams
“They have made it where if you even speak up and say things that are obvious, like that's a guy, that's a woman, and women should be protected in their most private places, bathrooms, showers, hotel rooms, then we're vilified,” Swanson told Dolcefino Consulting.
The cheerleader’s family has now come forward in an exclusive interview with Dolcefino Consulting.
“I’m pissed off,” said father Mike Jones. “It was three weeks before anyone from that college even with imminent threats would even make sure our kids were protected.”
“My daughter was literally the victim here and she is paying the price,” said mother Danielle Jones.
Incoming freshman Karleigh Jones, 17, was awarded a scholarship to Ranger College and joined the cheerleading team this year before they were awarded a chance for a national championship. Late one night at cheer camp, police say Karleigh was assaulted by one of her teammates in the school dorms.
Police identified the assailant as Averie Chanel Satchell, 25, who months before had been known as Dmontrey Satchell. Averie had begun her transition but still has male genitalia. Ranger College ignored requests from the coach to make sure the trans cheerleader didn’t share communal bathrooms and showers with the other girls.
After Averie was kicked out of school, she ignited a viral social media campaign denying the attack and claiming instead she had been the victim of transphobia and racism.
Karleigh and her family faced backlash from social media and tabloid headlines. Karleigh received threats online. Some of the comments read, “She needs her ass beat,” and “I am a woman beater, and I will gladly btf outta someone for you.”
“It destroyed my whole family. My mom. My dad was crying like we didn’t know what to do,” said Karleigh Jones of Mineral Wells.
Karleigh and a handful of her teammates left Ranger College to join the cheer team at Grayson College in Denison. Grayson coaches allegedly offered them free dorm rooms and possible scholarships.
Danielle Jones described it as a done deal. “They were told they made the team. They just had to try out for scholarships,” Danielle Jones said. “And boom, one day before they moved in, they were told they didn’t make it.”
Emails obtained by Dolcefino Consulting suggest Ranger Athletic Director Scott Norwood was the school official who may have helped scuttle the girls’ chances after an email from the Grayson cheer coach.
“They went to a new location. They've tried to build a whole other life, basically. And there's people at the other college that won't let that happen,” Mike Jones said.
Our investigations found those in charge have few answers. The school refuses to release video footage from the night of the assault. Ranger police are hiding body camera footage and basic police reports, and the town’s municipal judge won’t even tell us when the court date for the trans cheerleader is.
The Texas legislature recently passed a law making it illegal for high school trans students who were born male to play women’s UIL sports.