West Chester swim coach charged in sex with student
A West Chester high school swim coach, who allegedly posed as a swimmer's father, plied her with beer and had sex with her multiple times, was arrested Wednesday and charged on felony sex assault counts and corruption of a minor.
Kenneth William Fuller, 47, was head coach of the Rustin High School swim team. A member of the team, a teenage girl, told police that she had had several assignations with Fuller at parks and coffee shops outside of school before he took her on April 27 to a Kennett Square hotel.
Fuller, the girl told police, gave her "multiple" Bud Lite Lime beers at the hotel. After getting her drunk, Fuller undressed and had sex with her. When he asked if she wanted to go out to dinner, the girl declined. Fuller left to get takeout, and after eating, had sex with the girl again, court documents state.
On May 2, officials at Rustin High School got a phone call from a man who identified himself as her father telling them the girl had a doctor's appointment at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
After leaving the school early, the girl met Fuller at the same Kennett Square hotel, had sex, then went out to eat. After lunching, they returned to the hotel for more sex, court papers state.
Before leaving, Fuller gave the girl a document stating she had been treated at CHOP. The girl turned the document over to school officials who excused her absence, West Goshen detectives said.
On May 4, the pair met in Thornberry Park where Fuller offered the girl more Lime-flavored beer and had sex with her on a park field, detectives said.
On Monday, detectives spoke with the girl's father, who told them his daughter was not a patient at CHOP and that he had never called the high school to have her dismissed early from school.
"This was a despicable violation of trust," said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan.
"Rule No. 1 for every high school teacher and coach is: Do not have sex with a student," Hogan said. "Anybody who breaks this rule will be arrested, fired, lose any professional license and eventually go to jail."
"The parents of Chester County trust teachers and coaches to protect children, not to endanger children."
Hogan said Fuller had coached other teams and asked other victims, if any, to contact Chester County detectives immediately.
According to the Rustin swim team webpage, Fuller also coaches at Pennypacker Country Club and Malvern Swimming. He is president of a company supplying engineered water treatment equipment.
In addition to sexual assault and corruption counts, Fuller has been charged with endangerment for furnishing alcoholic beverages to a minor child and allowing her to operate a motor vehicle; criminal use of a communications facility for using a phone to get the girl dismissed early from school; tampering with records for falsifying a doctor's note, and luring a child.