Four Farmington (Mich.) High School coaches have been fired following allegations that one of them, a junior varsity coach, was involved in improper conduct with student-athletes and the other coaches failed to report the misconduct.
As reported by the Detroit Free Press, the Farmington School District confirmed the personnel moves Tuesday. The Detroit Police Department also said its Special-Victims Unit is investigating given that the alleged sexual-assault incidents occurred in Detroit.
"Last week, Farmington High School learned of an allegation of potential improper conduct between a non-[Farmington Public Schools] employee basketball coach and some players. We immediately terminated the coach and revoked his credentials to access our facilities," the school district said in a statement Tuesday, as repored by Matthew Dolan of the Free Press.
"During our administrative team’s internal investigation, we learned that three of the other coaches in our program [varsity and freshmen] had some knowledge of these interactions between the JV coach and student-athletes, and chose not to report them. As a result, they have been terminated as well."
The district emphasized in its statement that the "the other coaches are NOT accused of improper conduct with players; rather they did not meet the required threshold as mandatory reporters to ensure the safety and wellbeing of student athletes."
The district declined to reveal the identity of the coaches. Detroit police confirmed their ongoing investigation Tuesday, but likewise did not release the identities of any suspect.
"A Farmington Hills investigation recently revealed several allegations of sexual assaults involving minors perpetrated in the city of Detroit," Detroit police said in a statement Tuesday, according to the Free Press "Since receiving this information, investigators assigned to the Special Victims Unit have conducted a number of forensic interviews and conducted careful analysis of physical evidence."
When the police investigation is complete, the department said, it will turn its findings over to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for its own review about possible criminal charges, Dolan reported..
