Former Volunteer Coach Convicted on Sex Charges Involving 2 Teen Students

A former volunteer football coach at Estancia High School was convicted Friday of five felony sexual violations involving two former students.

During the weeklong trial in Orange County Superior Court, the students, ages 16 and 17, testified that former coach Robert Allen Harrington showed them pornographic videos in his office on campus.

One of the boys said he was molested by the 56-year-old after being shown one of the videos.

Harrington faces up to five years and eight months in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 5.

Neither Harrington nor his attorney could be reached for comment Friday.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Bryan Kazarian said that for the sake of the victims, he is pleased the jury came back with a guilty verdict.

“I imagine that John Doe 1 is going to be traumatized for the rest of his life,” Kazarian said. “I don’t know if it will help his mental state, but at least he knows that justice was done.”

John Doe 1--as he is being called to protect his identify--testified that Harrington offered to teach him how to swim and fondled him repeatedly during 10 swimming lessons last year.

Students and teachers at Estancia High School were shocked when the gray-haired Harrington, known to them as “Bobcat,” was arrested after police conducted a search of his Costa Mesa home last year.

In the 5 1/2 years he coached at Estancia, he earned a reputation for pushing football players to exceed academically as well as in athletics.

After Harrington’s arrest, Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials barred him from coaching.