Viral video details alleged locker room assault, inaction by coach at Napa High School

The Napa Valley school district has forwarded to local police a report of claims made by a man in a viral video who said he was brutally attacked by other boys in a locker room at Napa High School 30 years ago as a student, and that a renowned coach who saw the assault unfold did nothing to intervene.

The allegations, made in a video posted May 18 on TikTok, are aimed at an unidentified group of more than a dozen boys involved in the assault, the man said, and at the school’s longtime boys’ basketball coach, Denny Lewis, who has since retired but was a PE teacher at the time.

Napa police confirmed they have been in touch with officials from the Napa Valley Unified School District about allegations made in the video, which had about 720,000 views and more than 9,000 comments by Friday afternoon. It has roiled the Napa community and prompted a closed-door meeting this week of the district’s school board.

“One of the school resource officers got the information, documented the report and watched the video,” Napa Police Sgt. Mike Walund said, confirming receipt of the district’s notice. “But no individual has made any reports to us. We may attempt to track him down.”

The video was posted in response to a widely circulated prompt on the short-form video sharing app TikTok. That prompt: “Tell me about an experience you had with a teacher when you were younger that permanently scarred you.”

In his reply, the man, who identified himself in the comment section only as Travis, described being attacked at Napa High by a large group of boys. The assault came about, he said, after he’d been ostracized by other boys at the school because they suspected he was gay.

An athletic coach, whom he subsequently said was Lewis, responded to their derision by insisting Travis couldn’t change into and out of his gym clothes until the rest of the class had done so separately.

“Well, that just gave them a reason to be alone with me, and the coach knew that,” Travis says in the video.

One day, he added, “about 15 boys dragged me into the back bathroom, with the coach watching, spread my legs apart, and kicked me in the genitals until I passed out.” He continues to describe other aspects of the assault in graphic detail.

He was left briefly unconscious and deeply terrorized, he said in the video, posted under the handle @saucy.opath. Neither the coach nor any of the perpetrators were ever punished, he said.

Lewis, 79, reached by phone Friday, said he was aware of the allegations but immediately rejected the claims he’d witnessed any such violence and failed to intervene.

“Most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard,” he said. “I feel very genuinely for the gentleman. I have no idea why he has used me as part of this story.”

Lewis coached boys basketball at Napa High for nearly 30 years and is a member of the school’s athletic half of fame. His adult daughter is still employed at the high school.

Travis did not identify any of his assailants. But referring to the link to a 2012 Napa Valley Register story on a reunion of the 1992 boys’ basketball team, he wrote, “Some of the players mentioned in that article were the perpetrators.”

Travis’ post has rocked a school community that was clouded four years ago by a troubling hazing scandal at Napa High, which tore apart the football team, led to the resignation of the successful varsity coach, pitted families against one another and contributed to the departure soon after of then-principal Annie Petrie.

The fresh allegations of student abuse on campus, though dated, have unleashed renewed grief, outrage and suspicion among Napa High’s students and alumni, and raised the specter of a possible through-line of toxic locker-room behavior over many more years.

“On one hand, I feel loyalty to my old school and my community,” said Kevin Reid, who was in Travis’ grade at Napa High and eventually served as class president. At the same time, I have compassion for this guy, especially to put that out there. My heart goes out to him and his pain.“

Reid added, “I don’t know the truth of this.”

It’s another hot-button issue for Napa Valley Unified, which has contended with the 2017 hazing news, heated community reaction to its decision to change the name of the Napa High mascot from Indians to Grizzlies in 2018, and now Travis’ allegations.

“NVUSD is shocked, horrified, and saddened to hear of this past abuse that, if it had happened today, would be considered a hate crime,” the district said in a statement that was signed by superintendent Rosanna Mucetti and student services director Mike Mansuy. “The trauma the victim discussed is incomprehensible and unacceptable.”

Any criminal case would be further complicated by the age of the victim, and likely the assailants as well, and by California’s statutes of limitations. The statute of limitations for felony assault, for example, is generally three years.

“It’s what allegations can we prove? And do we have any have statute of limitations that go back that far?” the sergeant noted.

The Press Democrat was able to identify Travis through other social media posts. He did not respond to an email requesting an interview. The newspaper is not disclosing his last name without his permission at this time due to the sensitive nature of the allegations.

In multiple responses to comments below his TikTok video, Travis shared additional details on the alleged attack. It happened, he said, during the 1990-91 school year, when he was a closeted gay sophomore at Napa High. The video was the first time he has publicly addressed the incident, one of the events he said led him to therapy for PTSD.

He now lives on the island of Hawaii with his partner, but only after years of trauma that he said included methamphetamine addiction, prostitution and mental health hospitalizations.

“I struggle still with flashbacks and am still in weekly therapy,” Travis said in one comment.

Lewis’ alleged involvement is a blow to Napa High’s athletic tradition. He coached boys’ basketball from 1974 to 2002 there and led his teams to 376 wins. In 1990-91, when Travis said he was being brutalized under Lewis’ gaze, the coach was guiding the basketball squad to the first of consecutive league championships.

“Lewis’s impact on his players’ lives both on and off the court illustrate the type of coach he was,” his school Hall of Fame bio reads.

Lewis declined to discuss the matter in detail but categorically denied Travis’ account.

“Not only do I have no recollection, it’s something that naturally could never have occurred at Napa High without some type of legal litigation, without sheriffs involved, without principals involved, vice principals,” Lewis said. “Let alone the horrendous effects he talked about.”

Lewis said he does not remember Travis, adding that he was shocked to hear of the video.

“I don’t even know what TikTok is,” Lewis said.

Much of the outrage attached to Travis’ post has been directed at the high school and Napa Valley Joint Unified School District.

“It should have never happened and the school system failed you,” wrote someone identifying as Mallory.

“Drop the names and file a lawsuit. That should not be tolerated by the Napa school district,” wrote StephAn yuh.

The school’s principal and athletic director positions have turned over multiple times since then, as has the district superintendent. The principal in 1990-91 was Lars Christensen.

Reached Saturday, Christensen said he had no knowledge of the incident described by Travis. He described the sports and PE programs of Napa High during his tenure as inclusive and nurturing, and noted that school resource officers were closely woven into student life then. He also praised Lewis.

“We’re all flawed individuals,” said Christensen, who still lives in Napa and will retire in July as assistant superintendent for the Tamalpais Union High School District. “But one thing Dennis Lewis is not, is someone who would promote violence of one student toward another. Or turn away. He has a three-decade record of loving his kids.”

Mucetti, the current superintendent, and Mansuy, the student services director, stressed that the district now offers a confidential tip line, training for school staff and administrators, and counseling programs for students in need of support.

“We do not have institutional knowledge of systems that were available in the 1990s that could have lessened the trauma of this abusive act or avoided it altogether,” the statement read. “We do know today, our district will continue to investigate every accusation and educate our community on the importance of acceptance, mutual respect, and support for all.”

The 2017 hazing scandal involved reported instances of bullying, including sexual groping, of younger students by upperclassmen. One incident report prepared for the high school administration at the time described multiple occasions where older players on the football team would push their hands into the butts of clothed freshman athletes.

The Napa County District Attorney’s Office eventually charged six students with crimes, and at least two students sued their alleged juvenile assailants, campus staff members and the school district. The outcome of those cases was not available on Friday.

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Skinny_Post.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include a response from Lars Christensen, who answered a request for comment shortly after publication.