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2 coaches in trouble over night in hotel
By KENT FISCHER and GREG AUMAN A volunteer coach with Pasco High School's varsity baseball team has been let go and a paid coach has been suspended after they shared a room with a female student during a team road trip last month. Neither of the coaches is accused of having sex with the 16-year-old; however, one of the coaches, Tony Karppe, did share a bed with her, Pasco County school Superintendent John Long said Tuesday. Karppe has been removed from his volunteer coaching job. Assistant coach Ruben Garcia, a teacher's aide at the high school, was suspended without pay by the School Board on Tuesday at its meeting in Land O'Lakes. Garcia, 27, spent the night in a hotel room with Karppe and the teenager, but slept in a separate bed, Long said. "Although there have been no allegations of sexual impropriety, we feel it was a tremendous mistake in judgment," Long said. Garcia, who earned $1,349 per year as an assistant, has appealed his suspension and will have a hearing with Long next week. Pasco High principal Pat Reedy has recommended that Garcia be fired. Long said he might do just that. Garcia will "not be coaching anymore," Reedy said Tuesday. Neither Garcia, of Tampa, nor Karppe, of Dade City, could be reached for comment Tuesday night. Long gave the following account of the Feb. 8 incident: After the Pasco High baseball team traveled to Avon Park for a preseason tournament, the 16-year-old drove down to watch the games, but decided not to make the hourslong drive home. The girl called her mother, who gave her permission to spend the night with the coaches. The mother, Long said, described Karppe as like a "godfather" to her daughter. Long said the school district has not contacted the Sheriff's Office about the incident because no allegations of sexual activity have been made. Both coaches were removed from the team Feb. 11 and have had no contact with the team since, Pasco High administrators said. Head coach Ricky Giles will not be reprimanded over the incident, Reedy said. Giles declined to comment Tuesday on the matter. Garcia is a 1992 graduate of Tampa Catholic High. He played baseball for four years at Saint Leo University.
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From today's Pasco Times |
