Former football coach pleads guilty to sexually abusing players in Maryland
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - A former Wootton High School football coach has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two players on the team and is expected to begin his 18-month sentence in July.
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Christopher Papadopoulos pled guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a minor and one count of fourth-degree sex offense as part of a plea agreement in March.
Christopher Papadopoulos
A second sexual abuse charge and a third-degree sex offense charge were dropped as part of the plea agreement.
Papadopoulos worked as an assistant varsity coach from 2016 to 2020.
Police say the sexual abuse started back in the summer of 2017 where the former coach would invite one of the players who was 17 and a senior at the time, into his home in Gaithersburg.
During some of those visits, the victim said that he and the coach would do some stretches where Papadopoulos would be pushing or pulling on his muscles — but then it got to a point where the victim alleges the former coach began fondling him on numerous occasions and even asked him to take off his clothes.
During the same year, a second victim, who was also 17 at the time, had been talking with Papadopoulos on Snapchat, where the coach would ask him to send pictures of him wearing only compression shorts.
Investigators say the coach then convinced the victim to start sending him naked pictures of himself.
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Papadopoulos agreed to waive credit for any time served and is expected to begin his 18-month sentence following the sentencing hearing in July. He will also be placed on the sex offender registry for life.