SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — An assistant high school football coach in Springfield has been arrested on suspicion of having sexual contact with a student.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that 29-year-old Mikael Cooper-Falls was booked into the Greene County Jail shortly before 1 p.m. Monday. He faces charges of second-degree statutory rape, sodomy, child abuse, child molestation and sexual contact with a student charges.
The Springfield school district says Cooper-Falls is no longer a district employee. Besides coaching at Hillcrest High School, he also was a teacher’s aide. The district says in a statement that it is cooperating with the investigation.
Cooper-Falls also is a former starting running back for Hillcrest’s football team. He majored in criminology at Missouri State and played on the university’s football team for four seasons from 2009 through 2013.
