Girls hockey coach allegedly had sex with players
A former girls hockey coach at Park High School in Cottage Grove is accused of giving alcohol to two former players and having sex with them.
Eric Patrick Darwitz, 31, of Oakdale, was charged Thursday with two felony counts of criminal sexual conduct by a person of authority. The alleged incident was in 2006, when the girls were 16, shortly after Darwitz had quit working at the high school.
Darwitz is now a girls hockey coach at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault. Nick Stoneman, head of the private boarding school, says Darwitz told school officials about the charges Thursday afternoon. He says the coach is now on paid leave as coach of the under-16 girls hockey team pending a resolution.
Prosecutors say another man who allegedly had sex with one of the girls that night won't be charged because he hadn't had a position of authority over the girls as Darwitz had.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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