Students charged with assault for ‘horseplay’ in locker room in Lexington County

Two Lexington High School students have been charged with assaulting a freshman on the school’s wrestling team in a locker room.

Preston Edward Painter, 18, and Donald Hinson Lewis, 17, were charged last month with third-degree assault and battery, according to arrest warrants.

The two students were charged in March, and the victim’s father told The State newspaper Wednesday that the family intends to relocate because of the incident.

Witnesses told police that on March 10, one student struck the 14-year-old victim on the back with an open palm, and the other struck the victim on the back of a leg, according to an incident report from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. The incident occurred as team members were returning to the locker room after a workout.

A witness told the Lexington High School resource officer that the assault caused the freshman to bend over in pain and to almost fall to the ground, the report said. The freshman was “visibly upset” and began crying.

Painter told the school resource officer and an assistant principal that he struck the victim on a leg, but not hard enough to leave a bruise, according to the incident report. He also said that “five stars” – open handed slaps – are games the wrestlers play with each other in the locker room, the report says. He said all of the wrestlers get slapped “here and there,” and that the freshman was not targeted.

Lewis told the school resource officer and the assistant principal that he did a “hit-and-run” on the victim, running up behind him and slapping him, then running away, according to the incident report. He also said that “the wrestling team just enjoys goofing off with one another and no one ever takes it serious,” the report says.

A witness said team members always play around, but lately, with the victim, “the guys are taking it too far,” according to the report.

The two students, as well as four others, were disciplined by the school, according to the report. All received “some type of suspension.”

Wes Kirkland, the attorney representing Painter, said he couldn’t say whether his client struck the younger student.

“The only thing I can confirm is what I know about my client is (that) he’s a good kid,” Kirkland said.

Painter’s mother, Katie Painter, said the assault charge took the matter too far.

“I agreed with the punishment from the principal, but this has turned into a police matter,” she said. Her son returned to school after the suspension.

Heath Taylor, the attorney representing Lewis, said the incident was “horseplay.”

“It’s simply boys being boys in a locker room,” Taylor said.

Lewis is back in school, Taylor said.

After the incident, the high school’s athletic program “made some adjustments so the wrestling locker room could be monitored better,” according to the incident report.

School officials said in a statement Wednesday that 29 students were interviewed as part of the investigation, and that “several of the students admitted to giving and receiving ‘Five Stars’ and ‘Dead Legs.’” The students described these activities as “horseplay,” the statement says.

Two school employees were placed on administrative leave during a school investigation, which the statement says is standard procedure.

The investigation “showed that an incident did occur and that no coaches or teachers were in the locker room at the time,” officials said. The investigation found no evidence that teachers and coaches knew that “this type of horseplay had been occurring,” according to the statement.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 6:57 PM with the headline "Students charged with assault for ‘horseplay’ in locker room in Lexington County."