1984 Olympic star Danny Harris charged in sexual offense case
Former track star and high school coach Danny Harris was charged Tuesday for alleged inappropriate contact with a teenage female student.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced that Harris faces six counts: two each of contact with a minor for sexual offense, child abuse and child annoyance.
The 51-year-old, who was arrested last week and was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon, could not be reached for comment.
According to prosecutors, Harris sent inappropriate messages to an underage female student between April and May while serving as a track coach at Gabrielino High in San Gabriel.
A relative of the alleged victim discovered the messages and alerted police, the district attorney’s office said.
If convicted, Harris would face a sentence of up to seven years in state prison.
Through the mid-1980s and into the 1990s, the Southern California native ranked among the world’s fastest in the 400-meter hurdles. He won a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and later ended Edwin Moses’ decade-long winning streak in that event.
His subsequent struggles with drug addiction and homelessness were chronicled in a recent documentary film titled, “Crossing the Line.”
Harris has coached at several area high schools and at two universities in Iowa.
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