Jonathan Carson, former KHS girls basketball coach, (NRG Media photo)
KEARNEY — The former Kearney High School girls basketball coach has filed a civil suit alleging defamation.
Jonathan Carson, the former girls basketball coach and a current social studies teacher at KHS, per the district’s website, has filed a miscellaneous civil suit in Buffalo County District Court.
A petition for deposition has been requested for Jan. 26 at 1:30 p.m. The persons named to be examined include KHS principal Jeff Ganz and KPS Superintendent Jason Mundorf.
A deposition involves the taking of sworn, out-of-court oral testimony of a witness that may be rendered as written testimony for later use in court or for discovery purposes.
The facts sought are who made the statements concerning Carson, what the statements were, when they were made and to whom the statements were made.
“Our client has had, possibly, the most heinous allegations that a teacher could have made against them: at best, the grooming of a student; at worst, the inference of a completely inappropriate relationship with a student that invited members of our community to reach horrific, and false, conclusions about Mr. Carson,” stated Nathan Bruner, Carson’s attorney.
“This filing is about discovering who has been making these allegations against Mr. Carson and resolving this matter in Buffalo County District Court, rather than giving these allegations continued life as they spread throughout the community by means of conjecture and speculation,” Bruner stated.
In November, Carson announced his resignation from coaching duties, citing personal reasons. Carson had been on the KHS girls’ basketball coaching staff since 2012, first serving as an assistant coach and then taking over as head coach last year.
Bruner stated in an affidavit, that on Nov. 10, Carson had been informed by KHS principal Ganz that allegations of misconduct had been made against him by members of the Kearney community.
The allegations included an inappropriate relationship with a student or an inferred grooming relationship. Bruner states that these, “were the basis of an ultimatum presented to Mr. Carson: resign or be fired that day.”
During the Dec. 11 Kearney school board meeting, several parents of basketball players appeared and spoke in support of Carson, saying that the allegations against him were unfounded.
Carson himself appeared before the board and alleged that he was the victim of a “tactical witch hunt,” that had forced his resignation.
On Dec. 13, KPS Superintendent Mundorf issued a public statement regarding Carson’s resignation verifying that the allegations had been made by community members.
“To be clear, prior to Coach Carson’s decision to resign, various allegations of professional misconduct were brought forward from the community regarding former coach JD Carson,” Mundorf said in the statement.
“Multiple players were questioned regarding these allegations and multiple players signed affidavits that confirmed these allegations were true. There has never been, nor was there any evidence to suggest that any inappropriate physical relationship occurred between Coach Carson and a player,” Mundorf stated.
“Mr. Carson was removed for legitimate causes,” Mundorf said in the closing paragraph.
Bruner noted in his affidavit that based on Mundorf’s statement regarding “community members,” it is expected that there will be additional adverse parties to the suit.
