When veteran high school science teacher/baseball Coach Gerald Holley made a date for sex with an underage girl he had no idea just how eventful his date would be. When the 57-year-old Holley, an Ann Arbor, Michigan resident, arrived at the previously arranged meeting place, he quickly realized sex was out of the question. The undercover deputy from the Macomb County Sheriff's Office's Computer Crimes Unit told Holley he was under arrest and read him his Miranda rights.
Holley was charged with three felony counts of child sexually abusive activity and one felony count of using a computer to commit a crime.
Tip led Computer Crimes Unit to set up sex sting for Pioneer High School coach
The Macomb County Sheriff's Office set up its undercover sex sting after receiving a tip Monday that Holley was trolling the internet trying to hook up with underage girls. The Computer Crimes Unit was called in with one of its operatives pretending to be an underage girl willing to have sex with an older man. Though no age was given in sheriff's office news releases, the crime description indicates the fake potential victim would not have reached her 16th birthday.
Ann Arbor Pioneer High School officials said Holley, who had been with the school district since 1995, had been placed on administrative leave, but did not indicate whether he would be paid during that leave and said no further comment would be made about the teacher's situation since it was a personnel matter.
Bond set at $50,000 for coach, will have to wear electronic monitoring device if freed
Holley was arraigned Thursday in 41-B District Court for Clinton Township, where the judge set his bond at $50,000 cash or surety. If Holley is released, he will be required to wear an electronic monitoring device. A probable cause hearing has been scheduled for October 25.
If Holley is convicted on the three counts of child sexually abusive activity, he could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The maximum sentence for using a computer to commit a crime is 15 years.
According to the Pioneer Athletics website, Holley won state baseball championships in 2004 and 2010 and finished as runner-up in 2005 and coached three first team all-state players.
In 2004, he was named Michigan's Coach of the Year and during his career he has compiled a 189-118 record. The website indicates Holley and his wife have two grown children, both of whom graduated from Pioneer High School.
