Miller County R-III girls basketball coach charged with sex crimes against a student

TUSCUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Miller County prosecutor has charged the Tuscumbia High School girls' basketball coach with sex crimes against a student.

Michael Allen is charged with two counts of sexual contact with a student and two counts of second-degree sodomy.

An investigation began on March 1 after the Missouri State Highway Patrol Courage 2 Report system received tips about Allen having inappropriate contact with students, including providing alcohol to female students, according to a probable cause statement.

Miller County Sheriff's investigators talked with a student's parent on March 3 about the alleged relationship, the statement says.

The victim told investigators that she went to Allen's house to watch the Super Bowl in February 2021 where Allen gave her alcohol, according to court documents. While sitting next to her, the victim said Allen began touching her inappropriately and the victim told him to stop while at his residence, investigators allege. However, she says the relationship continued through the 2021 school year, according to documents.

The victim says Allen would get angry with her if she didn't meet up with him, according to investigators. Allen allegedly told the victim to turn off her tracking app on her phone so they could meet up and would ask her to come to his classroom outside of school hours to get her to do things with him.

The victim told officials that while at a friend's house, Allen went into the bathroom with her and touched her inappropriately, according to court documents. Allen also sent a picture of his penis to her through Snapchat and she felt pressured to send a sexual video to him, according to documents.

The victim told investigators the relationship began December 2020 and ended earlier this month, documents say.

Miller County R-III School District Superintendent Jason Price released a statement on the situation:

The Miller County R-III School District is aware this situation and took immediate action upon first notice to ensure the overall safety of our community. Although the District does not provide specific comment on these types of concerns out of respect for the privacy of everyone involved, the District is cooperating with local law enforcement and state agencies in their ongoing investigations and will continue to monitor this situation to see if additional actions are warranted.

Allen's picture is still up on the Miller County School District's website. He is listed as a PE teacher for the elementary school and high school.

Allen was being held on $75,000 bond Thursday at the Miller County Jail. He didn't have a lawyer listed in online court records.