KY high school basketball coach on leave following ‘grooming’ allegations
Note: The Herald-Leader does not typically identify victims of abuse or alleged abuse. However, this story includes the name of an individual who has come forward in a publicly circulated open letter with allegations against a Kentucky public school employee.
A recently reinstated Kentucky high school basketball coach who has been accused of grooming an underage high school student has been placed on leave once more.
Chris Gaither, the head boys’ basketball coach at Martha Layne Collins High School, was placed on a paid leave Dec. 11 amid an ongoing investigation by the school district, Shelby County Public Schools spokesperson Joshua Rhodes confirmed Thursday.
The decision comes one week after a former Collins student and basketball team manager published an online letter alleging Gaither used his position as a teacher and coach to groom her for sex immediately following her graduation. The letter was delivered to the school district Dec. 4.
Rhodes said the school district is aware of the allegations and is taking them seriously.
“Our guiding responsibility is to protect the safety, dignity, and due process rights of all involved individuals,” Rhodes said in a statement to the Herald-Leader. “The District will continue to follow all established policies and procedures, and any new information that may arise will be evaluated promptly and appropriately.”
A coach at Collins since the 2011-12 season, Gaither was previously placed on leave with pay from Nov. 17-25 while the school district conducted an “internal review in collaboration with our board attorneys,” Rhodes previously told the Louisville Courier Journal. He was subsequently reinstated based on guidance from the attorneys.
Gaither has coached in all four of Collins’ games this season, according to the Courier Journal. Collins is scheduled to host Shelby County for a game Friday night.
“Allowing him to go back into the classroom would be a huge disservice to me, the girls who have similar stories involving him and future female students,” former student Hayley Weddle wrote in the letter to the school district also shared online. “I understand now that this man is a predator and he should be held responsible for his actions.”
Weddle had not taken legal action against Gaither as of Thursday afternoon. Rhodes said he is not aware of any criminal investigation into the allegations.
In the letter, which was posted on Facebook Tuesday, Weddle alleges Gaither messaged her over text and Snapchat, often late at night, while she was a student and team manager from fall 2012 to her graduation in 2014. As Weddle got closer to graduating from high school, the messages became more provocative, including asking questions about her sexual history, she wrote.
Two weeks after graduating in June 2014, Gaither allegedly kissed Weddle while she was babysitting his children at his house, according to the letter. Gaither invited Weddle over the next day, giving Weddle the impression he was going to explain his actions, but instead he allegedly convinced her to have sex.
Gaither allegedly continued messaging Weddle for years after the encounter, one time asking if her current boyfriend knew she had sex with him. Weddle wrote that she knew Gaither’s behavior was inappropriate at the time, but didn’t come to the full realization of the conduct until years later.
“As an adult, I am keenly aware that this is very wrong and wish I would have reported it so he was not able to continue this pattern of abuse,” Weddle wrote in the letter. “I am hopeful my statement will help put an end to this cycle of abuse and there will be no more victims of Chris Gaither.”
Amanda Lamping, who described herself as Weddle’s best friend, also wrote a letter to the school district Dec. 4. She said she witnessed the communication between Gaither and Weddle, which Lamping described as consistently flirty and inappropriate.
“At the time, we were both too young to fully understand the seriousness of what we were seeing, but looking back as adults, it is clear to me that the relationship crossed boundaries that should never exist between an educator and a student,” Lamping wrote in her letter.
The Herald-Leader contacted Weddle and Lamping about their open letters regarding Gaither. In addition, Gaither’s attorney was not immediately available for comment.
Basketball coach also involved in defamation lawsuit
In June, Gaither filed a defamation lawsuit against Amy and Andrew Ballard, and Kelly and Michael Higdon, parents of children enrolled in Shelby County Public Schools or Christian Academy of Louisville. The lawsuit claims the defendants shared defamatory, malicious, reckless, negligent and false statements about Gaither in three emails sent to officials with Shelby County Public Schools and Christian Academy of Louisville.
The first email was sent by Amy Ballard to Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joshua Matthews, former Collins High School Principal Nate Jebsen and Shelby County School Board administrator Michael Clark Jan. 17. Ballard, whose son played on Collins’ basketball team, expressed concerns with Gaither’s leadership and decision to favor his son over other players, according to court documents.
Gaither allegedly bullied players on the team by cussing them out and kicking them off the summer ball team, according to court documents. Ballard asked for Gaither to step down in the email.
“Chris Gaither has lost the respect of his team and the parents,” Ballard wrote in the email. “When a child loves basketball as much as these boys do and they no longer want to play the sport that fuels them, there is a problem.”
The second email, sent Feb. 20 by Andrew Ballard to Matthews, Jebsen, Clark and Amy Ballard, was an open records request for all financial records related to the basketball program and a Venmo account called “Titans Basketball,” according to court documents. The account was allegedly controlled by Gaither and used to collect fees for a basketball camp.
The Ballards sent $175 to the Venmo account in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Court documents say the high school later informed the Ballards that the school’s booster club paid the basketball camp fees and parents should have not paid for the camp.
The contact information for the Venmo account was Gaither’s email and phone number, and the account was connected to a nonprofit corporation for which Gaither was a registered agent, according to court documents.
Gaither claimed he did not have exclusive or signatory control over the account, according to court documents. Gaither also did not steal money from the basketball program, and claimed any allegation saying so was reckless and malicious.
The third email was sent by Kelly Higdon to Brad Morgan, Christian Academy of Louisville athletic director and Michael Higdon April 13. The email was a forwarded letter, signed by “families of Martha Layne Collins High School,” outlining pages of accusations about the basketball program’s allegedly poor culture under Gaither’s leadership.
Morgan was in serious discussions with Gaither about the head basketball coach vacancy at the school when the email was sent. The school ended up hiring another candidate.
The third email shared accounts from several former players and students about their experiences with Gaither. Court documents say one student accused Gaither of “fishing/grooming” young girls on Snapchat and following girls on social media after they graduated.
Weddle was not specifically mentioned in the email.
“Collins is not a safe place for athletes in the basketball program under the leadership of Chris Gaither,” the email reads.
Court documents say Amy and Andrew Ballard played a role in crafting the emailed letter. Gaither contends it is defamatory, malicious, reckless, negligent and contained false statements. None of the defendants made any effort to address their concerns with Gaither directly before the emails were sent, according to court documents.
Gaither claimed his reputation has suffered damage as a result of the defendants’ statements, according to court documents. He is seeking unspecified compensatory and general damages, and an order preventing the defendants from making additional false statements.
Josh Rose, the attorney representing the Ballards, told the Herald-Leader, “my clients look forward achieving justice in this case.”
The lawsuit remains ongoing in Shelby District Court. The next scheduled court appearance is March 5, 2026.
An attorney representing the Higdons did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
