Alleged Penis in Hot Dog Bun Stunt Gets Wash. High School Coach Suspended

A high school football coach from Spokane, Wash. was suspended with pay last month after officials were alerted of complaints that he allegedly exposed himself to students last summer, according to a report from the Spokesman-Review.

Ferris High School officials are currently investigating claims that coach Jim Sharkey exposed himself by putting his penis inside a hot dog bun and showed players. The alleged incident is said to have occurred during a leadership camp last August and Sharkey, who also teaches fitness and leadership, is accused of lying to cover it up.

Sharkey, 50, strongly denies the allegations, the newspaper reports.

The incident was first reported a few weeks after the camp ended, with a Ferris High School football player coming forward and alleging the incident happened when the coach was grilling food. After allegedly putting his penis inside the hot dog bun, Sharkey allegedly said, "You think that is a big dog - take a look at this," according to school records, which were obtained by the Spokesman-Review. These records also listed multiple different versions of the same quote.

The newspaper reports Sharkey received a written reprimanded but was allowed to coach in the fall. School officials, however, put him on administrative leave Feb. 1 after more players said they saw the alleged exposure incident. The students also brought up "separate incident of questionable behavior by the 11-year teacher and coach," the Spokesman-Review writes.

Though school officials are not discussing the incident, they acknowledged the investigation last week by releasing public documents requested by the newspaper.

Sharkey calls the allegations false and turned down interview request from the Spokesman-Review but did comment on the investigation.

"They have not given me a timeline," he told the newspaper. "But they have been specific that I can't comment on anything until the investigation is done. When this is done, I'll be happy to talk about my teaching and coaching affairs."

Sharkey is also accused of drinking alcohol in front of players while at the camp and allegedly called a female student a "puck slut" or "puck bunny" because she was friends with hockey players at the high school. The coach denied drinking at the camp but said he saw other adults drinking, according to the reports. He added that the comment about the female student was "not meant to be inappropriate."

According to the records obtained by the Spokesman-Review, another football player alleged hazing occurs on the football team. He said he knew of "four or five" times players would gang up and pile on top of a player on his birthday. He alleged they would shove fingers in the player's anus, which they called "juicing." The player made it clear no coaches or adults were present for those incidents, the newspaper writes.

Sharkey denies the allegations of the birthday hazing.

"I would not allow this. No way," he said, according to the notes obtained by the Spokesman-Review. "You better have dates and times of the juicing - if you say 10-15 times - you just better be able to tell me exactly when, who."

He later added that the investigation "is a witch hunt."

"I do a lot for this school. It is going to be difficult to replace me at this time," the coach said, according to the notes. "This is my life - this is all I do."

[H/T Deadspin]