A Denver East High School cheer coach has been fired after cellphone videos surfaced showing him forcing cheerleaders to do splits, pushing the students even though they were in severe pain, protesting and crying.

Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg announced Friday that Ozell Williams has been fired. A criminal investigation of the incident is ongoing by Denver police.

Boasberg called the video footage “deeply disturbing.”

“What happened was wrong,” he said. “Under no circumstances should a child be forced into physical or emotional harm.”

Video clips from June of cheerleaders being verbally and physically forced by Williams into splits, as other team members held them down, surfaced this week and went viral on the internet.

One clip, first shown by KUSA-Channel 9, showed freshman Ally Wakefield screaming in pain and repeatedly asking Williams to “please stop.”

East principal Andy Mendelsberg, assistant principal and athletic director Lisa Porter, assistant cheer coach Mariah Cladis, and DPS deputy general counsel Michael Huckman have been placed on leave, pending the outcome of ongoing investigations by police and the district.

The incidents were recorded on video the first week of summer cheer camp. At least one video was sent to Porter. Kristen Wakefield, Ally’s mother, sent an email to Porter saying her daughter had suffered a leg injury. The mother inquired about what actions would be taken to correct the situation. Wakefield told 9News that complaints were ignored by the school for two months.

At Friday’s news conference, Boasberg said he wasn’t made aware of the disturbing situation until Wednesday, when the incident became news.

“It was wrong not to have taken action in June,” he said. “Information should have been forwarded to police in June.”

As part of its investigation, the school district is looking into internal communication to ensure that such oversights — with controversial information not working its way to the top — does not happen in the future, Boasberg said.

Meanwhile, the Boulder Daily Camera reported Friday that Williams in 2016 was fired from his job as a paid consultant by the Boulder Valley School District after similar complaints. Related Articles September 8, 2020 Gannon Stauch case: Stepmother found competent to stand trial, but her attorneys want another evaluation

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Williams worked with Boulder High’s cheerleading team weekly during the fall of 2015 and for a few days during a weeklong summer camp in 2016.

Williams applied for the East coaching position through the “normal application process,” Boasberg said Friday. Williams’ DPS application included “positive references” but did not mention working in Boulder or getting fired there.

Counselors were called into East this week to help students who were directly involved get through the difficult situation, Boasberg said.

“This is a huge tragedy for all of the young women involved,” he said.

DPS staff aims to empower students so they know they have the right to refuse if they’re asked to do something they are uncomfortable with.

“To see a young person in pain — it is shocking,” Boasberg said. “I was deeply affected by seeing this.”

The East cheerleading squad, which Boasberg says is among the best in Colorado, is looking for a new coach.