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Sexual allegation shocking to many

Pinellas County sheriff's Deputy Todd J. Pierce is charged with having sex with a minor.

By JAMIE THOMPSON
Published January 26, 2006

SEMINOLE - Todd J. Pierce is a veteran sheriff's deputy who has spent 12 years working with teenagers, both as a school resource officer and a well-liked assistant football coach in Pinellas schools.

So players he coached at Countryside High were shocked on Wednesday when they learned that Pierce had been arrested on charges of having sex with a 15-year-old girl in 2001.

The head football coach at Countryside, John Davis, broke the news to devastated players.

"There were tears. They're all saying, "There's no way,"' said John Davis, Countryside's head football coach and a sergeant with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Pierce, 40, of Palm Harbor was arrested on a charge of lewd and lascivious battery and a charge of lewd and lascivious molestation. He remained at the Pinellas jail Wednesday night in lieu of $40,000 bail.

The Pinellas Sheriff's Office began investigating in December 2005 after receiving a tip that Pierce had touched female students inappropriately, said sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen.

While investigating, detectives found a woman who said she had repeated sexual contact with Pierce when she was a student at Osceola High in 2001. At the time, Pierce was a school resource officer there.

The woman said Pierce groped her breasts, vagina and buttocks on the outside of her clothing between Aug. 22, 2001, and Sept. 27, 2001, on school grounds. The woman, then 15, also said she had sex with Pierce at her Pinellas home on Sept. 21, 2001.

A person who answered the phone at Pierce's house declined to comment.

"I've never seen any indication of anything like that," said head coach Davis. "He's a very high moral person. I've left my kids with him. I trust him fully."

Pierce started working at the Sheriff's Office in 1992 as a corrections deputy. He moved to patrol in 1998 and later put in a request to become a school resource officer. He got the transfer in January 2000 and began working at Osceola High.

In an evaluation the next year, a supervisor said Pierce's "friendly and outgoing personality has endeared him to the students, staff and faculty at the school."

But around the same time, detectives now believe, Pierce was having a sexual relationship with the 15-year-old.

"The relationship at some levels appears to be consensual," McMullen said. "However, because the victim was 15 years old, consent is not an issue."

Under state law, a minor cannot consent to having sex with an adult.

In 2003, Pierce was transferred to Dixie Hollins High in St. Petersburg, where he worked for the past two years.

"Deputy Pierce has excellent counseling skills and relates very well to the students," his latest evaluation said, noting that he had made 37 arrests on campus.

Detectives have not charged Pierce with any inappropriate behavior at Dixie Hollins, but the investigation continues, McMullen said.

The agency, which has completed more than 50 interviews on the case, placed Pierce on paid leave Dec. 30 and will determine whether to continue that leave on Jan. 27.

Pierce is a longtime Pinellas resident who played football at Lakewood High, where Davis was an assistant coach. About 12 years ago, Pierce began coaching with Davis, first at Clearwater Central Catholic, then Countryside.

Pierce already had resigned as assistant coach at Countryside before the allegations surfaced, saying he needed more time for his family, Davis said.

Pierce lives with his wife in Palm Harbor and has several children, records show. His stepson plays football at Countryside. He has been married at least three times.

Deputies ask anyone with information to call Sgt. Stefanie Campbell or Detective Randall Jones at (727) 582-6200.

Staff writer Vanessa de la Torre and researchers Angie Drobnic Holan and Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Jamie Thompson can be reached at 727 893-8455. Send e-mail to jthompson@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 26, 2006, 01:01:17]