Deputies arrested a girls’ varsity basketball coach on Thursday, accusing him of intentionally and inappropriately touching a student.
Michael Cope, 52, of the 2200 block Avenue C, SW in Winter Haven was taken into custody and charged with one count of lewd and lascivious molestation of a 15-year-old female student.
The Lake Region High School student told investigators that, when the two were alone in a classroom, after another student had exited, “Mr. Cope approached her and touched her neck area with an open hand…then he slid his left hand on top of her breast and fondled her breast for a few seconds on top of her clothing.”
The teen also told investigators that, when the other student returned, Cope sent her on an errand and again, “he [Cope] walked past her slapping her with an open hand on top of her buttocks, on top of her clothing.”
Cope initially denied that he did touch the student intentionally and inappropriately, but subsequently confessed to investigators saying, it was a lapse in judgement.
Cope is the girls’ varsity basketball coach at Lake Region High School and an ESE para-instructor.
Cope was booked into the Polk County Jail earlier today.
