Court docs: Cathedral HS girls coach had sex with student-athlete
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A former coach for girls sports at Cathedral High School has been charged with child seduction after he had a sexual relationship with a student-athlete, according to court documents.
Curtis Steger, 24, was charged Dec. 13 with five felony counts of child seduction. On Thursday, Steger was listed on the Cathedral High School website as an assistant coach for the 2018-2019 girls junior varsity soccer team.
According to court documents, a student-athlete told a detective that in 2018, Steger was a new assistant coach with her track team. She said Steger was “easy to talk to” and she talked to him about problems with her then-boyfriend.
Steger began following the student-athlete on social media after the track season ended, she told a detective. After she attended an August girls soccer game, she said Steger used Snapchat to contact her, and they began using the messaging app to communicate every day, court documents say.
The student-athlete said Steger flirted with her and told her his feelings for her began during the track season. She told a detective she and Steger admitted to having romantic feelings for each other, and Steger invited her to his house, which was not far from the high school, court documents say.
According to court documents, the student-athlete visited Steger’s home five or six times, starting in September. During her second and third visits, she and Steger engaged in sexual acts, she told a detective. Steger told the student-athlete he loved her on multiple occasions, she told a detective. The student-athlete said she ended her relationship with Steger in November.
When the student-athlete attended a high school retreat in early December where the students were to read letters from friends and family, she had one from Steger, who had written one for each athlete, she told a detective. The first letter of each of the eight paragraphs in Steger’s letter to her spelled, “I love you,” according to the student-athlete.
A few of her classmates found out about her relationship with Steger, and she told him she wanted no further contact with him on Dec. 2. She also deleted all the Snapchat messages between herself and Steger, according to court documents.
Police examined the student-athlete’s phone and found 148 calls and a voicemail saying in part, “I miss you and I love you,” associated with a number listed as “Coach Steger,” according to court documents.
On Dec. 11, a warrant was issued for Steger, and he was interviewed by a detective. Steger confirmed that he was an assistant coach for the high school track team and the girls soccer team, that he met and coached the student-athlete during track season and that she had confided in him about her personal life. He also said he communicated with her on social media, and that he knew she had feelings for him, court documents say.
Steger declined to answer whether his relationship with the student-athlete became sexual or whether she came to his house. He admitted to the detective that he had told the student-athlete he loved her and that he wrote the letter spelling out “I love you.”
Police also recovered a notebook with entries addressed to the student-athlete dated Dec. 3-10, all with a common thread that he loves her, misses her and wants to be with her again, court documents say.
Cathedral High School released this statement about Steger:
Cathedral High School severed all ties with the volunteer track/soccer coach as soon as we learned of his arrest. We will continue to work with authorities throughout the investigation.
Steger was formally charged Dec. 14 and is due in court Feb. 6.
