Florida high school football coach told player to 'commit suicide,' head-butted another: report

Randell Owens was arrested in 2013 after an incident with a student. The charge was later dropped.
                                    
                                        (Lowndes County Jail)

A Florida high school football coach was removed from the classroom and permanently banned from teaching after he was accused of abusive behavior.

Randell Gene Owens, who coached football, was a dean at Palatka High School, was accused of head-butting a player and told another to "commit suicide," First Coast News reported on Tuesday, citing a Florida Department of Administrative Education complaint.

He was also accused of releasing mucus from a 15-year-old student and, in another instance of abuse, standing on a toilet seat and "peeped over the bathroom stall" while a 16-year-old male student used the bathroom, according to the complaint. The incidents reportedly took place during the 2017-18 school year, according to First Coast News.

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Owens did not seek to contest the charges and waived his right to a public hearing, according to the complaint. He also surrendered his teaching certificate.

Owens resigned from the school in December 2017 and the Florida Department of Education permanently revoked his teaching in June, according to First Coast News.

The trainer was involved in several incidents prior to joining Palatka High School. He was hired by the school in April 2015, according to the Palatka Daily News.

In September 2013, Owens was arrested for a single incident after a student at Valdosta High School in Georgia. He resigned from the high school days later. Valdosta City police obtained an arrest warrant for Owens, but the charges were later dropped, according to First Coast News.

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Joined Palatka High School, he was accused of keeping "coaches segregated" and "playing favorites." In addition, he was "accused of making players with medical issues to" go out and play.

Putnam County Superintendent Rick Surrency defended Owens' hire after he was let go of Georgia high school.

"With any employee who reports such an inquiry, it was my understanding that the record had actually been expunged," Sivent told First Coast News.

Owens has not spoken publicly about the allegations