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CRIME & COURTS

Cheer Incorporated: Tennessee Coach Pleads Guilty

Nick Frizzell sentenced to jail time…

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One of the defendants named in a federal Cheer Incorporated lawsuit pleaded guilty to five criminal counts in a Knoxville, Tennessee courtroom today.

Dominick “Nick” Frizzell, 24, of Knoxville pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor, statutory rape and three counts of sexual activity involving a minor in exchange for a reduced sentence. Frizzell was sentenced to one year in prison and nine years of supervised probation. He will also be placed on the Volunteer State’s sex offender registry for the rest of his life.

In September 2022, Frizzell – a University of Tennessee Volunteer cheerleader – was named in a civil lawsuit in U.S. district court in Memphis, Tennessee. He previously coached at Premier Athletics – a Knoxville, Tennessee-based company which teaches gymnastics, cheerleading and tumbling to children. Premier Athletics has facilities in Tennessee, Kentucky and Michigan, according to its website.

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Dominick Frizzell
Dominick Frizzell (Knox County Detention Center)

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The civil lawsuit was filed by attorneys with the Columbia, S.C.-based Strom Law firm and by Tennessee state representative John Ray Clemmons. According to the pleading, Premier Athletics – through its manager – “allowed a coach and athlete to emotionally, physically, and sexually exploit and abuse Premier’s young athletes.”

Both Frizzell and Premier manager Susan Traylor were named as defendants in that case. According to the pleading, in the spring of 2022 Traylor received reports that Frizzell had “engaged in sexual misconduct with some of (Premier’s) minor athletes.” Shortly thereafter, one of these minor athletes “directly reported” multiple alleged sexual solicitation attempts by Frizzell to the U.S. All-Star Federation (USASF) and to local law enforcement – specifically the office of Knox County sheriff Tom Spangler.

According to the lawsuit, Frizzell “sent nude photographs of himself, as well as videos of (himself) masturbating.” Some of the materials have been provided to this news outlet in support of the allegations contained in the pleading.

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RELATED | CHEER INCORPORATED: CRIMINAL CHARGES FILED IN TENNESSEE CASE

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Despite these reports, Frizzell was “allowed to continue accessing Premier Athletics’ gym,” the lawsuit noted.

Despite the severity of the claims, the lawsuit claimed it took USASF “months” to notify Mary Doe of the abuse allegedly perpetrated against her then-14-year-old son.

“Months after first becoming aware of potential abuse against one of its minor athletes, USASF finally contacted Mary Doe,” the lawsuit alleged. As for Premier Athletics, the gym “never contacted” Mary Doe on behalf of her minor child, according to the suit.

Frizzell was arrested and criminally charged in connection with these allegations on May 20, 2023

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‘I WILL NEVER FORGET…’

Mary Doe — who told this news outlet her story shortly after filing the lawsuit — was frustrated by the the sentence, but relieved this part of the story is over. Tennessee law classifies statutory rape as a “class E” felony – punishable by 1-2 years probation maximum if the minor and adult are less than 10 years apart in age and does not require the offender to register as a sex offender.

“This is also why we see adults — and even coaches and teachers — avoid jail time for these offenses,” she said.

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(Provided)

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At the sentencing hearing, Frizzell’s victims – and their parents – were permitted to provide victim impact statements.

“My son chose not to be here today because you are his past,” one father said. “He is not looking backwards because you no longer have any control over his life. He is a survivor, and he is a hero to me and so many other kids that he saved from your molestation.”

“What you did to him was not a mistake,” the father continued. “You have groomed, prowled upon, and molested countless young boys that we know about against their will. You did these things because you are a pedophile who gets off on raping and molesting little harmless boys.”

“I don’t even know what to say other than this has absolutely ruined my family,” Mary Doe said. “It has changed everything about how I view people. It’s changed his love of what his passion was,” she continued. “Nick has a short sentence compared to the lifetime sentence he’s already started putting us through.”

She then read her son’s statement…

“I would go back and look at pictures to remember some of the things I was feeling during that time, but I’ve deleted most of my pictures from December 2021 to March 2022 because every time I would come across those pictures, it immediately took me back to where I was as a person, and how I felt. I don’t consider myself the person I was around that time. During that time I was very depressed, self harming, doing drugs, and thinking of how many way I could kill myself. Every day I would lay in my bathroom floor, self harming and sobbing til my eyes couldn’t cry anymore. Thinking of how different my life would be if Nick never groomed me into the situation he put me in. I couldn’t go to anyone to talk about the things he was putting me through, due to him telling me he would come find me, beat me up, hurt me, make me cry, and kill me. Those were his exact words to my face when I was 14-years-old sneaking out to see him at 1 in the morning, and being forced to do drugs so I could pleasure him in any way he wanted me to. At 14 years old, a freshman in high school, sneaking out with a sophomore in college. A very unfortunate situation I will never forget, no matter how many years he’s in jail and no matter how much money given to me. nothing will cover the scars I still have on my thighs, and the internal scars on my heart.”

Victim impact statement from Nick Frizzell’s sentencing hearing

To many the sentence didn’t appear strong enough, but the plea deal held him accountable for all of the charges. Frizzell will also serve a full year in jail without chance of early release with stronger terms for his nine-year probation period.

Sources have also indicated that part of Frizzell’s plea deal will require his full cooperation into an ongoing federal investigation into whether Varsity and USASF knowingly concealed evidence relating to Frizzell’s crimes – and crimes involving other coaches in its network.

In fact, Frizzell has reportedly conducted multiple interviews with federal authorities related to the ongoing investigation.

Stay tuned for much more on this story…

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Jenn Wood (Provided)

Jenn Wood is FITSNews’ incomparable research director. She’s also the producer of the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts and leading expert on all things Murdaugh/ South Carolina justice. A former private investigator with a criminal justice degree, evildoers beware, Jenn Wood is far from your average journalist! A deep dive researcher with a passion for truth and a heart for victims, this mom of two is pretty much a superhero in FITSNews country. Did we mention she’s married to a rocket scientist? (Lucky guy!) Got a story idea or a tip for Jenn? Email her at jenn@fitsnews.com.

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2 comments

MaryContrary Top fan February 1, 2025 at 12:05 pm

Finally one person is being held accountable! Tennessee law needs to be strengthened as it doesn’t provide anywhere near the punishment that is deserved.

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The Colonel Top fan February 2, 2025 at 8:42 pm

Wow, a whole year! The abuser knew what he was doing and he has obviously caused, probably, irreparable harm to more than likely multiple others, and he gets a whole year.

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