KITSAP COUNTY, Wash. — One of three former Kitsap County high school students raped in 2019 by a cheer coach has come forward to share his story and is suing the Central Kitsap School District for $5 million.
The plaintiff is Issac G. Yates, and the cheer coach is Tyson Alexander Ebert, who has already pleaded guilty to having sex with the students at Olympic High School before 2019.
The lawsuit claims the coach was sexually manipulative and that the school did nothing to intervene or have the coach arrested until the young man came forward and revealed what occurred.
“It just makes my stomach turn into knots. I get flashbacks. I believe that I have PTSD because of it. It was terrifying and even now, it still is,” Yates said.
“The predator was having parties at his home and these students were spending the night there. Some students even wrote letters to the principal expressing their concern that this coach made them uncomfortable and they were uncomfortable about how he was treating these special students,” the victim’s attorney, Jeff Campiche, said.
The lawsuit said the school district was negligent in not recognizing the coach’s behavior, and the attorneys behind the lawsuit said they believe there are other rape victims who have not come forward.
The lawsuit also claims the coach had been grooming and supplying alcohol to students and that it was common knowledge throughout the school.
Ebert was released after spending six months in jail because he had no previous convictions. He is also on probation as a sex offender.