PORTAGE COUNTY, Ohio – A physical education teacher who is also a coach at a local high school and high school has been sued after he was accused of trying to have sex with a 14-year-old man. using the Snapchat media app, according to the Portage City Court.
Tyler Coia, 27, from Ravenna, is accused of asking a 14-year-old man to engage in sexual conduct in the application, according to the court file.
Investigators at the Portage County Sheriff’s Office said the case began with advice, but said they could not give more details about the case, citing an ongoing investigation.
However, a major in the department told News 5 that he believed there were other victims and said the case involved at least two minors.
Coia is a physical education teacher at Glenwood Intermediate School in the local Plain school district.
Local schools in the plain said Coia is currently on leave while the district conducts an investigation. The district said it had no reason to believe any Glenwood Intermediate students were involved at the time.
Coia also coaches at Berkshire High School in Geauga County and James A. Garfield High School in Portage County, according to school board records.
Records shows that Coia was hired as an assistant football coach for boys at Berkshire High School in June 2019 and as a coach for boys at James A. Garfield High School in January 2019.
Local schools in Berkshire confirmed that Coia was an assistant football coach for boys in the district this fall and said an FBI / BCI background check showed no incidents reported at the time of his employment. Local schools in Berkshire have said their coaching contract will not be renewed and there are no known incidents involving students in the district.
Local schools James A. Garfield said Coia was hired as a high school coach for the boys last school year, but was “extremely limited in his time” there with students due to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not work for the district. in no way a school year. The district said it continues to cooperate with the authorities in this regard.
The sheriff’s department did not comment on whether or not any of the minors involved in the case were Coia students taught or trained.
Coia was charged with importuning, a third-degree felony.
On Wednesday afternoon, no one answered the door at the Ravenna address listed as Coia’s home in court documents.
The preliminary hearing will take place on 31 December at 8.30 am