Oregon high school football coach accused of slapping players appears in court

An Oregon high school coach who allegedly woke players up in the middle of the night during a team camp and began slapping them appeared in court on Wednesday.

Jamal Jones, the 32-year-old former head coach of Westview High School (Portland, Ore.), appeared at Yamhill County Courtroom on 12 counts of misdemeanor harassment, according to KGW8.

According to outlets including KGW8 and KPTV, during a camp at Linfield University in late June, Jones allegedly entered the room of the athletes around 1 or 1:30 in the morning. Players told KPTV that he began slapping some students and jumped on top of one.

One of the players said to KPTV: “He targeted some of the younger guys. Went up to each of them individually and started smacking them one by one … Some of them he’d jump on top of and put himself on.”

The outlet reported that players said it didn’t seem like Jones was “in control of his actions at the time” and that his speech was slurred.

Jones was put on administrative leave by the Beaverton School District and subsequently resigned. In addition, he was placed on administrative leave from his full-time job as a police officer with the Hillsboro Police Department.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 29.