Ex-Coach Denies He Made Threats

Former Burbank High School football coach John Paul Greaves pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he made death threats against another coach who exposed the Salle Dumm sex scandal, police said.

A Municipal Court judge ordered Greaves, 32, who was released on bail, not to contact or harass John Hazelton, who served as head coach at the school while Greaves was an assistant during the 1994 and 1995 seasons, and Maureen Burke, a former school counselor. Both Hazelton and Burke have accused Greaves of threatening them since the Dumm case broke.

Greaves, who faces misdemeanor charges of failing to report child abuse, making terrorist threats and making annoying phone calls, could be sentenced to up to 2 1/2 years in County Jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted. He was ordered to return to court on April 11 for a pretrial conference.

Members of Greaves’ family who attended his arraignment Tuesday would not comment on his alleged involvement in the Dumm case. But his attorney, James Goldstein, denied the charges and said Greaves has “done no wrong.”

“I think it’s an overblown case,” Goldstein said. “There’s a lot of emotion here in Burbank, and it’s just been blown out of proportion.”

Greaves is accused of knowing about an alleged July 14 sexual encounter between Dumm, president of the Burbank Educational Foundation, and a 17-year-old football player since just days after it took place, but failing to notify district administrators or authorities. Greaves, as an employee of the district, was required by state law to tell police about any child abuse reported to him.

After Hazelton reported the incident in November to the district superintendent, police allege that Greaves harassed Hazelton with a series of phone calls, threatening to kill or hurt him on more than one occasion.

Earlier this month, the Dumm scandal led directly to the resignation of school board President Joe Hooven, who admitted to having known about the sexual incident between Dumm and the student, but who failed to report it to police.