Auburn middle school wrestling coach arrested after making 14-year-old student send nude photos

An Auburn middle school coach has been charged with multiple sex crimes after allegedly messaging a teenage student in a sexual manner while he was her coach, including convincing her to send him nude images and videos of herself.

Daniel Ralph Lee, 64, was the wrestling coach for Olympic Middle School, and allegedly communicated with one of his student athletes inappropriately for approximately a week before it was reported to the school. The conversations occurred in late March.

“The case was first brought to our attention Friday, April 4,” Auburn Police Spokesperson Kolby Crossley said. “After a prompt and thorough investigation, detectives were able to build a case which led to the suspect’s arrest.”

List of charges for Auburn wrestling coach

Lee was booked in King County jail on a list of sex crime charges, including two counts of communication with a minor for immoral purposes, first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and first-degree viewing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

His bail was set at $150,000. School officials confirmed with KIRO Newsradio that the man is no longer an employee. School administrators are asking families to share any information they might have concerning the former coach or possible victims with police.

“While the defendant does not have any known criminal history, the state is extremely concerned about the defendant’s conduct in this case,” prosecutors wrote in court documents obtained by KIRO 7. “The defendant was in a position of trust at a school to coach young students, and he abused that position of trust when he began to communicate with the victim, a child, about sexual topics and asking her to send him naked photos of herself.”

The victim, 14, eventually told a teacher about the inappropriate conversations. The teacher promptly reported it, leading to Lee’s arrest earlier this week.

“Crimes against children, especially sex crimes against children…we don’t take lightly,” Crossley said. “It’s something we try and figure out as quickly as possible because we don’t want this person to continue to get hurt.”

This is a developing story, check back for updates

Contributing: KIRO 7

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