JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A former head boys basketball coach at Englewood High School was arrested Thursday in Clay County and handed over to JSO to face five felony counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.
Duval County school officials have identified Paul McPherson, 45, as the suspect. He was hired last year.
According to a news release from school leaders, McPherson was also charged with three misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and a misdemeanor count of possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana.
Englewood High Principal Marleny Chirino said in a recorded voicemail to parents that McPherson, who was also a security guard at the school, was reassigned from the school to district duties with no student contact on Sept. 5 following the initial allegations.
“While the presumption of innocence applies, I feel that it is important for you to know this has transpired. If you have information that you think might be helpful to law enforcement on this matter, I encourage you to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office directly,” Chirino said.
According to his arrest report, the victim told police that McPherson offered to drive them on several occasions but told them to walk down the street to Krystals so no one saw them getting in his car.
Whatever happened behind the Krystals is redacted, but McPherson gave the victim his phone number on a sticky note afterward. JSO took the sticky note and conducted a search of McPherson’s car, phone and laptop.
After McPherson’s arrest was made public by the school district, News4JAX spoke with several seniors at Englewood High School to get their reactions to the arrest. Given the nature of the allegations against McPherson, an editorial decision was made to not identify the students.
A male and female student who stood next to each other were asked if they were satisfied with how the school district initially reassigned McPherson after the allegations came to light.
“Absolutely,” said the female student.
“Yes. When it started coming out, no one saw the coach at all. Everyone was asking where he was. No one knew,” said the male student.
Two other female students said the coach’s arrest was a big discussion on campus.
“It was very shocking to me because it’s our school and we don’t really expect it. It’s very surprising,” said one of the female students. The other female student said, “This is crazy.”
The district referred questions about the investigation to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and News4JAX is still waiting for information from that agency. When and where the alleged criminal activity happened is still unclear.
According to Basketball-reference.com, McPherson is from Chicago and played one season in the NBA for three different teams during the 2000-01 season.
School District officials said that under a presumption of innocence, McPherson will remain a school district employee in a non-pay status, pending further action in the criminal case.
McPherson remains in the Duval County jail on a $442,000 bond.