D.A. Drops Sexual Assault Charges Against Brea Coach

Prosecutors on Monday dropped all charges against a Brea Junior High School basketball coach who had been accused of sexually assaulting four boys at the school.

The move came on the day the case against Craig Lee Coleman, 35, was scheduled for trial in a Santa Ana Superior Court.

“We have learned new information, and we felt we wouldn’t be able to get a conviction from a jury,” said Deputy Dist. Atty Rebecca Heinlein.

Heinlein declined to detail the information because it involved minors. But Coleman’s attorney Stephen Klarich said his investigator uncovered evidence that some of the witnesses in the case allegedly lied to authorities.

“While we applaud the district attorney’s decision, it is a shame my client had to go through months of hell,” Klarich said.

Coleman, who is on unpaid leave from the Brea-Olinda School District, said Monday that he was extremely relieved by the prosecutor’s decision.

“I feel great,” he said. “It’s a lot of stress out of my life, because, quite obviously, this had weighed heavily on me over the last seven months. Today I’m just relaxing for the first time in a long time.”

The former coach, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence since being charged a year ago with four felony counts of performing lewd acts on three 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old, said he had not yet decided whether to return to work at the school district. “It’s a possibility,” he said. “I need to talk to my attorney about what my options are.”

School district officials could not be reached for comment.

Klarich said his client was very close to his students and would playfully wrestle with them, but that the actions never had a sexual connotation.

“When you are dealing with a case like a teacher, with a public reputation, there should have been more extensive investigation,” Klarich said. “We won today, but what did we really win? I just hope he can pick up and move on with his life.”

Monday’s actions are not likely to stop a $10-million lawsuit filed against Coleman and the school district on behalf of one of the accusing boys. Douglas Honig, the attorney for the 14-year-old who alleged he was molested by Coleman, said his client will press on with the suit.

“It does not deter us from our intention to bring those responsible to justice,” Honig said.

Coleman’s case marked the fifth failed or abandoned prosecution of an Orange County sexual molestation case in seven months. Defense attorneys have raised concerns that authorities are too quick to file charges in such cases.

But Assistant Dist. Atty. Rick King, who heads the sexual assault unit, said the string of cases does not represent a pattern. His office obtains convictions on 90% to 92% of molestation cases, he said, including the recent guilty plea in February of a former Trabuco Hills High School teacher who admitted having sex with a 16-year-old student.

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Times staff writer David Haldane contributed to this report.