David Willman, 48, of Chesterfield Township, a former Eisenhower High School girls basketball coach, is accused of sexting a player in 2019. (Photo: Macomb County Sheriff’s Office)
A former Utica Eisenhower High School girls basketball coach was arraigned Wednesday on two felony charges, accused of sending sexually-explicit text messages to a player.
Authorities said the former ninth-grade coach also asked the 14-year-old victim her breast size.
David Willman, 48, of Chesterfield Township was charged with one count each of accosting a child for immoral purposes and using a computer to commit a crime, the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office said.
Willman, through different methods of communication, requested the victim pose for nude photographs, the county Prosecutor’s Office said. It accused Willman of sending many text messages stating how much he trusted her and that he wanted to send her nude photographs of himself.
Willman also allegedly asked what size breasts she had because he couldn’t see her body sufficiently at practice because of her uniform, according to the prosecutor’s office.
More: Principal: Eisenhower H.S. coach fired, accused of sending inappropriate texts to student
Willman was fired in December, according to Utica Community Schools. The text messages were sent the previous month, the prosecutor’s office said.
It said that Willman told the student numerous times to trust him and that he would help her. Later, he asked her to delete the text messages because he did not want to get into trouble. He went on to tell the victim that he was simply trying to build her confidence.
“Our office is beginning to see too many of these cases where a teacher or coach, in a position of authority, violates the trust of a vulnerable young person and attempts to groom them,” Prosecutor Eric Smith said. “This defendant not only violated the trust of his player, but that of the entire school and our community.”
He added that as prosecutor and father of two female student athletes: “I take this matter extremely seriously.”
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The Sheriff’s Office previously said that students at the Shelby Township high school are 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade students, and that players on the ninth-grade girls basketball team would come from Malow and Shelby Junior High Schools.
Willman was not a district employee. He was contracted, signing his paperwork in early November, Tim McAvoy, director of school and community relations for the district, said last month. He said the ex-coach had no other role in the school district.
Willman was taken into custody Tuesday by the Sheriff’s Office Special Enforcement Team Unit. He was charged the same day by the Prosecutor’s Office.
Willman was ordered held on a $150,000 bond during arraignment Wednesday in 42-1 District Court in Romeo, authorities said. He has to wear a tether if he posts bond and is released from the county jail, according to the prosecutor’s office. His next court date is Jan. 14.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.
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