High school coach arrested for alleged sexual assault on student, Sacramento Police say
A former coach at a private Catholic high school in Sacramento has been arrested on suspicion of felony sexual assault involving a student, law enforcement and school administration said Wednesday.
St. Francis Catholic High School officials sent an email Wednesday morning notifying parents that administration on Saturday received “a report of inappropriate contact between St. Francis cross country and track coach, Aaron Rios, and a St. Francis student.” Rios, 38, had resigned from that role last week, the email said.
The school says it forwarded this report to law enforcement, who arrested Rios this week.
The Sacramento Police Department confirmed in a Wednesday news release that detectives arrested Rios on Tuesday “in connection with a sexual assault investigation involving a student and coach at St. Francis High School.” Police say they were notified Sunday of the alleged sexual contact and began investigating immediately.
“We are deeply distressed and heartbroken by this situation and its impact on our students,” the email, signed by St. Francis president Theresa Rodgers and principal Elias Mendoza, reads in part.
“We also are working to understand how this conduct occurred despite the many safeguards we have in place for our students.”
Rios is in custody at the Sacramento County Main Jail, facing felony charges of lewd acts with a child victim aged 14 or 15, as well as attempted contact with a minor for sexual purposes, booking records show. His bail is $100,000.
According to Rios’ bio on the St. Francis website, which has since been removed, Rios joined the school’s cross country program on an interim and assistant coach basis in 2015 and served as its head coach starting in 2016. He’d also been head coach of the private school’s track and field program from June 2019 through his resignation last week. Rios worked previously as head coach for the girls cross country team at Del Campo High School, from 2011 to 2014, his St. Francis bio said.
Rios also coached privately for Sac Elite Youth Running Club, the bio says, which is an organization he founded. He has a wife and three children.
Police say the investigation remains active, and the department asks any witnesses with information related to the alleged crimes to contact the dispatch center at 916-264-5471 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-4357.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 3:08 PM.
