Roy West, Junior High Coach, Accused Of Throwing Baseballs At Students As Punishment

An Oklahoma school coach was arrested this week and charged with seven counts of injury to a minor child.

Roy West, a coach at Silo Junior High School in Durant, is accused of throwing baseballs at seventh- and eighth-grade players as a form of punishment.

The 42-year-old's arrest Tuesday marks the end of a nearly four-month investigation launched by the Bryan County Sheriff’s Office after authorities received reports of West's unorthodox method of discipline. Police began contacting parents in the spring to determine whether the allegations held water.

The affidavit of probable cause, obtained by the Durant Democrat, accuses West of "striking said minor children in the back, legs, arms, or lower torso with a baseball as punishment for inadequate performance while said defendant was a person responsible for the care and welfare of such minor child as a public school coach." The affidavit also states that multiple students came forward with substantial bruises consistent with the accusations.

West claimed that he threw baseballs at his players in an attempt to teach them how to protect themselves from a wild pitch, local news outlet KOCO reports.

West, who also served as a teacher at the junior high for 15 years, was placed on administrative leave Wednesday. He is currently out on bond and is due back in court in October.