Sunday, March 14, 2004

Coaches in trouble

By Fred Girard / The Detroit News

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John Brosnan

When: February 23

Incident: Federal indictment charges 20 people in six states as part of a multimillion-dollar drug ring that sold 40 tons of marijuana since 1991. Feds say an organizer of the ring was Brosnan, 46, of Grosse Pointe Park, an assistant coach for the Red Barons youth football program.

Gary Potter

When: February 7

Incident: Police arrive at the Grand Rapids-area home of Potter, 40, a youth hockey coach, to investigate a hit-and-run accident. They spot an enlarged pornographic photo of a young boy, return with a warrant and find other such pictures — although apparently not of children on his team — and arrest him for possession of child pornography, a felony. The case is pending.

Tony Blankenship

When: January 22

Incident: Former Murray-Wright football coach Blankenship, 33, is ordered by a Wayne Circuit jury to pay $7,000 in damages to a player he paddled as a 15-year-old three years earlier.

Kevin Hultgren

When: January 6

Incident: Hultgren, a Lincoln Park father of three with a fourth child on the way, is a volunteer youth hockey coach. He was arrested by Wayne County Sheriff’s deputies who had duped him on the Internet into arranging a meeting with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl. Charged with three felonies, his case is pending.

Kevin Ayrhart

When: Nov. 24, 2003

Incident: Police arrest Lincoln Park Middle School football coach Ayrhart, 32, for possession of sexually abusive material involving a child found on his computer at school. The case is pending.

Doug Walters, Nick Nugent, James Chabot

When: Oct. 28, 2003

Incident: Garret Drogosch suffers compound fracture of the right leg during a tackling drill brought to Meads Mill Middle School by coaches Walters, 30, Nugent, 29, and Chabot, 26. The three were fired as coaches. Parents have filed a lawsuit.

Scott Harris

When: Oct. 18, 2003

Incident: Harris, 33, a teacher at South Lyon High and defensive coordinator of the football team, is stopped for a driving violation, and charged with possession of cocaine, marijuana and narcotics paraphernalia. A new record check shows both Michigan State Police and FBI checks run when he was hired in 1996 missed two felony and three misdemeanor convictions.

Steven Michael Crawford

When: June 12, 2003

Incident: St. Clair Shores track coach Crawford, 22, is sentenced to probation after arranging a meeting on the Internet with who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, but turned out to be Wayne County Sheriff’s deputies. His conviction does not turn up on a State Police I-CHAT check.

Matt Cipriani

When: Feb. 14, 2003

Incident: Wayne youth hockey coach Cipriani, 38, pleads guilty to a felony of using the Internet to commit a crime after setting up a meeting with who he thought was a 14-year-old boy, but turned out to be Wayne County Sheriff’s deputies. His conviction does not turn up on a State Police I-CHAT check.

Matt Tapping

When: Jan. 25, 2002

Incident: Youth hockey coach Tapping, 23, of Saline, is sentenced for raping a 13-year-old boy he met in an Internet chat room. His conviction does not turn up on a State Police I-CHAT check.

Brother Robert Brouillette

When: March 13, 2000

Incident: Brouillette, who coached football, basketball and track at Birmingham Brother Rice during the 1970s and ’80s, is sentenced to four years probation and a $2,000 fine. Police arrested him in an Internet sting after Brouillette set up a meeting with who he thought was a 12-year-old boy, then found images of child pornography on his computer disks.