HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A former high school softball coach in Macomb County was sentenced Wednesday for sending sexual messages to a 15-year-old female player on social media, officials said.
Jared Harris, 23, of Fraser, was the junior varsity softball coach at Anchor Bay High School, officials said. Harris and the rest of the team were part of a group chat on a social messaging application, but he started to send private messages to a 15-year-old player, police said.
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Harris is accused of making sexual comments and sending pictures of himself in private messages to the girl earlier this year, police said.
Harris was charged with one count of accosting a child for immoral purposes and one count of using a computer to commit a crime.
Harris sentenced
He was sentenced to 120 days in the Macomb County Jail and five years of probation. He will serve the first 60 days of his sentence on weekends, reporting Friday evening and being released Monday morning.
Harris also has to submit to random drug testing and will be registered as a sex offender. He can only use the internet for work and school and cannot be within 1,000 feet of school property or 500 feet of parks and playgrounds.
He can't have contact with the teenage girl or be involved with youth or high school athletics, officials said. Harris can only have contact with someone under 17 years old if they are family, and only when supervised, officials said.
More about the case
Macomb County detectives investigated the case, searched several social media accounts and forwarded their findings to prosecutors.
He was removed from coaching at Anchor Bay High School, school officials said.
Harris was also a coach for the HITZ travel softball organization based in Chesterfield Township, police said.
Here is a statement from the Anchor Bay School District:
"Jared Harris was briefly employed by the Anchor Bay School District as a JV softball coach. Upon being contacted by the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department, Mr. Harris was removed from his coaching position and is no longer affiliated with the Anchor Bay School District in any way. We are not aware of any misconduct involving Mr. Harris and any Anchor Bay students. The Anchor Bay Athletic Department has been in contact with local law enforcement and will assist them in any way possible."