Coach of nation’s best prep girls soccer team arrested on child porn charges
In a stunning turn of events, the coach of EliteSoccerReport.com's No. 1 ranked girls soccer team from the 2012-13 season has been arrested on child pornography charges.
Cary (N.C.) Green Hope High coach Robert Jules "Bobby" Peterson was charged with six counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor for reportedly having sexual images of young females on his computer, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.
Detective Kevin West discovered Peterson's IP address -- at the home he shares with his parents -- on a national Child Protection System database that monitors internet chat rooms "known to be involved in child pornography trading," according to the report.
The Cary Police Department allegedly found six troubling images of girls aged 3-11 on Peterson's computer. The CPD also seized a laptop computer, three phones and four memory devices prior to arresting the Green Hope coach, the report said.
“We’ve got a lot of digging to do,” CPD Captain Don Hamilton told the News & Observer.
The school system has suspended Peterson with pay following his arrest, the paper reported. He has served as head coach of the Falcons for the past nine seasons, including a 28-0 run to the North Carolina Class 4A state championship this past season.
The Falcons, who feature University of Virginia-bound All-American Alexis Shaffer, are 53-1 since 2012. Peterson also coached club teams in the Capital Area Soccer League.
“The girls were like, ‘He’s odd,’ but it stayed in that ‘odd’ position," Chandler McKinley, who served as team manager for the past two-plus seasons, told the paper. "It never hit ‘creepy.’ He was never categorized as ‘creepy.’ It’s not like he crossed lines.”
Peterson is reportedly free on $100,000 bail.
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