Former California high school football coach sentenced to prison for secretly photographing female students

A former high school coach in California has been sentenced to over nine years in prison after admitting to secretly photographing 21 students in the girls’ locker room. 

David Arthur Riden, former assistant football coach at Los Osos High School in southern California, pleaded guilty last month to possessing over 600 images of child sexual assault material, using a minor to produce child sexual assault material, and secretly photographing a minor, according to a Fox News report. 

He received nine years and four months at his sentencing Friday, and will be required to register as a sex offender for life. 

Riden was arrested last year when another employee at the high school found his hidden camera, which he had disguised as a cell phone charger in the girls’ locker room.  

“Our office is satisfied with the outcome of this plea, particularly on the felony charges,” the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “It ensures Riden is held accountable for his crimes and the victims will not have to endure a potentially lengthy trial and any further emotional trauma.”

While the DA’s office was satisfied with the outcome of the plea deal, some of the victims, their parents and their celebrity attorney Gloria Allred were not. After the sentencing Friday, Allred held a press conference at which one of Riden’s 21 victims, Jordyn Stotts, spoke out. 

“Riden, the game you played was sick,” Stotts said. “I talked to you almost every single day thinking how nice and sweet of a person you were, and thinking of you as a coach who loves his job. But this whole time, you’ve been going behind all of our backs, which is sick.” 

Allred, who represents the victims and their families in an ongoing lawsuit against the school district, said some of the victims’ parents found the sentence to be “very disappointing.” 

“Although Mr. Riden will be sent to prison, some parents felt that he should be sentenced to substantially more time in custody,” Allred said. “Many parents and their daughters have been on an emotional rollercoaster.” 

Fox News reports a representative for the Chaffey Joint Union High School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Sadly, this case is only the latest in an alarming trend across the nation. As reported by The Lion, the frequency of sexual abuse cases in public schools has been on the rise, prompting some policy experts and lawmakers to sound the alarm. 

“The basic fact is incontrovertible: Every day, a public school teacher is arrested, indicted or convicted for child sex abuse,” Christopher Rufo, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told Fox News Digital. “And yet, the teachers’ unions, the public school bureaucracies and the left-wing media pretend that the abuse isn’t happening and viciously attack families who raise concerns.”