CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A former Canton High School coach received a relaxed sentence Thursday in a criminal sexual conduct case after it was discovered that the 15-year-old student he was in a relationship with had lied about her age.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Canton High School coach accused of sexual relationship with underage student
Eric Locke was the Canton High School's assistant hockey coach. He pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct in May. He was sentenced to two years probation under HYTA and does not have to register as a sex offender.
Locke had a sexual relationship with a student from November 2015 through February 2017. When the girl's mother found out about her daughter's relationship with a 20-year-old coach, she told the school resource officer and within a day, authorities had enough evidence to arrest Locke.
Evidence discussed during the sentencing hearing indicated that she lied about her age on multiple social media accounts, pretending to be 19 years old.
“As far as I can tell the two young people met through Tinder where the complaintant had posted a picture of herself listing her age as 19,” Judge Richard Skutt said.
Text messages showed that she specifically lied about her age to Locke.
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