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FORT MYERS - A sex scandal at South Fort Myers High School earlier this year has led to the removal of the school's head football coach and an assistant coach.
Back in May, a 15-year-old student had sex with several boys - including some football players - in a school restroom. Some of the boys even recorded the acts.
Late Tuesday afternoon, head football coach Anthony Dixon and assistant coach Nathan O'Jibway were relieved of their coaching duties.
The Lee County School District is not saying specifically why Dixon was fired, but the parent of a former football player said he coached her son on what to say to police.
"They just wanted to keep the best football players playing," the parent said.
The mom did not want to be identified, but she said her son was on the South Fort Myers football team and was in the bathroom the day of the incident.
"My son couldn't do it. He pushed her away and walked out of the stall," the parent said.
Multiple students and some football players had sex with the female student in the bathroom while some students recorded it.
Dixon and O'Jibway were fired Tuesday. Dixon, who was hired last year, was also fired from his job in security while O'Jibway is keeping his position as a P.E. teacher.
But it's what happened the day after the incident that left one mom frustrated with the football coaches.
"I'm pretty sure they picked out the kids they wanted to," the parent said.
She said her son and others met coaches after school and were told to write a statement about what happened. She said Dixon then ripped up the statement in front of them.
"The coach tore up the first statement," she said.
The parent said Dixon then allowed players to give a second statement in front of police, but parents were never told in advance.
"I didn't like that whatsoever. I was kind of mad about it," she said.
But she said at that point Dixon had coached players on what to say and picked certain players to tell the truth and take the fall. She said her son was one of them.
"Coach is trying to protect himself from getting fired from the school and push it on these five kids," the parent said.
NBC2 spoke with Ben Yormak, Dixon's attorney, who denied the allegations against Dixon. He said Dixon did not coach the kids on what to say and that the parent's story isn't true. Yormak also said Dixon is being made a scapegoat and they're considering filing a lawsuit against the school district for firing him.
The school district said Matthew Holderfield is the new interim head football coach for South Fort Myers High School. The team plays a preseason game Friday at home against Largo.
Lyric Hill is a cheerleader at the school and thinks Dixon shouldn't have been fired, calling him an "awesome coach."
"I think now teenagers can see that stupid decisions they make can really affect other people's lives and their jobs and their careers," Hill said.