By Malcolm Hall Repository staff writer
PERRY TWP. ” Police are examining financial records of the Perry High School wrestling team booster club while a longtime coach remains on paid suspension.
Perry Local Schools recently turned the booster club’s records over to the Police Department.
The records were submitted to police “just to see if there was any misappropriation of funds that might lead to a theft or fraud,” Police Chief Timothy Escola said. “Right now, we have not made any determination one way or the other if there is a criminal offense here.”
Escola said the records were turned over to a Stark County prosecutor, who released them to an accountant for examination. The booster club’s fund account, according to school officials, is separate from the school district’s general fund.
“One person had the checkbook that wrote the checks,” said Frank Gamble, the high school athletics director. “But there is a Wrestling Booster Club Fund; they run their moneymakers through that. … When the coaches have clinics, they run them through the booster club, not (through) the athletic department.”
David Riggs, an assistant wrestling coach, was put on paid suspension in mid-September by Superintendent John Richard. Head coach Brian Dolph resigned Tuesday after he was suspended by the superintendent.
Richard acknowledged that the wrestling team’s booster club records were under scrutiny, but refused to explain further.
“I don’t want to get into any of the details,” said Richard, who is in his first year as superintendent. “We have to respect the privacy of any individual involved. And I have to protect the district.”
School officials still haven’t made public any allegations against Dolph and Riggs.
Dolph came under investigation early in 2005 after a student wrestler complained about being placed in a rough hold by the coach during a practice session. Police investigated it as a possible assault, but did not file charges.
Riggs’ attorney, Lee Plakas, believes the district is looking for evidence against Riggs now that it has suspended him.
“I think it goes to having shot first without the facts,” Plakas said. “The point is, it would seem to me that prior to putting someone on suspension they should have given records to an accountant.”
Riggs, who has either been head coach or assistant wrestling coach for nearly two decades, is credited by some with developing the program into one of the top programs in Ohio scholastic athletics.
Riggs also has been a building trades teacher at the school.
Meanwhile, an attorney representing the Stark County Educational Service Center said that a gag order on Riggs is now lifted. Riggs was instructed by the superintendent to “have no contact with students or the Perry wrestling staff regarding the issues we have discussed.”
Plakas called the order an “offensive” attempt to suppress Riggs’ rights.
“The letter we believe is establishing an edict of secrecy and silence,” Plakas said. “The public has a right to know, Mr. Riggs has a right to know. We are talking about stifling the free exchange of information.”
But in a letter dated Thursday, attorney Mary Jo Shannon Slick informed Riggs’ attorney that he is free to discuss the matter.
“We were under the impression that when Mr. Riggs left the meeting he agreed to those terms,” said Shannon Slick, who also occasionally represents local school districts in the county. “That (school) board never violated his rights. We thought it was for his benefit.”
You can reach Repository writer Malcolm Hall at (330) 580-8305 or e-mail:
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