Youth Football Coach Gerrel Williams Facing Criminal Charges for Hitting Player

Youth football coach Gerrel Williams, who was caught on video striking one of his players in the helmet twice during a game, is facing criminal charges in Georgia. 

According to ESPN, the child's mother declined to press charges, but Osceola County Sheriff's Office Maj. Jacob Ruiz announced Friday that charges are being filed regardless:

"The Osceola County Sheriff's Office along with our local state attorney's office have reviewed this case and the decision has been made that charges for child abuse will be filed, regardless of parent's decision not to press charges. The actions of this person are despicable and there is zero tolerance when it comes to the abuse of a child."

Williams was the coach of the Savannah (Georgia) Gators U9 football team, and he was coaching in the 2020 American Youth Football National Championships in Kissimmee, Florida, on Monday when he was captured on video slapping a player in the helmet and then doing so a second time with such force that the child fell to the ground.

Per WTOC's Lyndsey Gough, the incident report noted after Williams pushed the child to the ground, he "shoved the kid's head pushing him off the field."

Ben Fatilua, who is an assistant coach of the San Diego Bad Boyz, witnessed the assault and told Gough the following:

"Like I was telling the coaches—I was yelling across, like I was telling their parents, like you all allow these people to hit your kids? Like is that what you guys do? But again, I don't know how they run their program, I don't know what they do, but for me, I've been coaching for almost 12 years, and I've never seen that before."

Per Asha C. Gilbert of the Savannah Morning News, Williams offered an apology on Facebook Live: "I am going to apologize for my actions about what took place, but at the end of the day, I am not going to make any excuses for it, I did it."

Williams said in his apology video that the player and his parents had forgiven him.

In addition to getting banned from the football league he coached in, per Gough, Williams resigned from his job as a counselor in the Chatham County Sheriff's Office's detention center after he was given the option to resign or be fired.