Pa. attorney general: Wrestling coaches pressured boys to share nude photos of underage classmates

Two Cambria County high school wrestling coaches were arrested Friday by agents from the state Attorney General’s Office for allegedly pressuring their student-athletes to share pornographic photographs of underage girls.

Portage Area High School head wrestling coach Michael Anthony Fox, 33, of Cresson, and Bradley Paul Rousell, 31, of Portage, were arrested and charged in Allegheny County after an investigation that began with a tip to Pennsylvania’s Safe2Say tip line.

Rousell and Fox face four and two counts, respectively, of criminal solicitation of child pornography, a third-degree felony, and corruption of minors, according to court documents filed before West Mifflin District Judge Richard Olasz Jr.

The incidents took place at year-end wrestling tournaments the team participated in at West Mifflin High School in 2018 and 2019, according to court documents.

Fox was ordered held in the Allegheny County Jail after failing to post $25,000 bond. Rousell was released on bond, according to online court dockets.

Fox is also an English teacher at the high school, according to the school district website.

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro said both coaches are charged with requesting to see and view naked images of girls that wrestling team members had on their cellphones.

“What these coaches did was not only an abuse of power, but a violation of trust to the faculty and students at Portage High School,” Shapiro said in a news release.

“Forcing students to share pornographic photos with their adult coaches is disturbing, illegal and abusive to the young adults they were supposed to be mentors to,” he said. “Instead of coaching these boys how to be responsible young men, they used them.”

Authorites say the images were shared on several occasions, during the 2018 and 2019 December annual West Mifflin Wrestling Tournament.

According to court documents filed with Olasz, images would be shared during what was described as a mandatory team bonding meeting in one of the coaches’ hotel rooms. State investigators interviewed both current and former members of the wresting squad, court documents said.

Court documents allege Fox and Rousell would start pressuring student athletes to bring photos of female classmates several days or weeks in advance, with Fox and Rousell asking their athletes if they “got pics,” and that they should “better be getting them ready” prior to the tournament.

During these team meetings in both 2018 and 2019, Fox and Rousell would discuss very specific details about sexual encounters they had with different women. They would ask students about their own sexual experiences and ask specific questions about the wrestlers’ current girlfriends, according to the complaint.

Two students told investigators that Fox had directed them to get images of a specific female student, for Fox’s viewing, on multiple occasions. Fox and Rousell would also ask team members to confirm the identity of the female students whose photos were being shown.

A common theme described by current and former varsity wrestlers was that Rousell would state that the West Mifflin Wrestling Tournament is “where boys become men.”

That was referring to sharing the naked images of female classmates along with explicit sexual talk and stories that Fox and Rousell shared with the wrestlers, investigators said.

Portage Superintendent Eric A. Zelanko said Saturday that school officials have been assisting investigators in the probe.

“After receiving correspondence from the Safe to Say hotline the morning of Feb. 6 involving a serious allegation involving students and staff, school officials reached out to law enforcement for assistance,” Zelanko said in response to an email inquiry.

“School officials have been cooperating to the best of our abilities in the investigation of these allegations as the safety of our students and staff are of utmost importance,” he said. “I am not at liberty to share actions or discussions at this time other than to say steps have been taken to protect everyone in our schools.”

Senior Deputy Attorney General Chuck Washburn is prosecuting the case.

Court documents said that Cambria County District Attorney Gregory J. Neugebauer referred the case to Shapiro’s office after receiving the tip Feb. 6.

A telephone message left at Rousell’s home was not immediately returned. Fox’s attorney, Marc Daffner of Pittsburgh, could not be reached for comment.