A longtime varsity baseball coach at a Sacramento high school has been arrested on two counts of sexual activity with a minor, relating to what police say was the statutory rape of an underaged student.
As reported by Sacramento Fox affiliate KTXL, ABC affiliate KXTV and the Sacramento Bee, among other sources, El Dorado (Calif.) Union Mine High baseball coach David Freeman was arrested and charged with one felony count of unlawful sex with a minor and one felony count of sex acts with a minor. The 38-year-old coach, who has also served as a teacher at the school for the past 12 years, was released on bail the same day he was charged.
While no details of Freeman's alleged crimes have emerged, multiple Union Mine students expressed a sense of surprise at the teacher's arrest, but intimated they were not totally shocked by the charges.
"Some people thought he really favored girls so they always thought he was a pervert. Some students predicted it would happen some students were glad it happened," says Ryan Lugan, a student at Union Mine High School.
"I've heard rumors that he has done it before, says Derrick Sterling, a sophomore at Union Mine High School.
It's unknown who will fill in to teach the coach's business, computer and physical education classes, just as there will be a question over who will lead the school's baseball program this spring. Still, at least one student offered a sense of support for the school employee because of past interactions with him.
"He's been there for me," Lugan told KTXL. "He was a great computer teacher. I had him for summer school. He always [helped] me out."
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