NEWS

Police: Sex allegations against Parkview coach were reported 20 years ago

Rance Burger
RBURGER@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Had he known about allegations of a Parkview High School basketball coach sexually abusing a student, former Springfield Public Schools athletic director Edsel Matthews said he would have acted immediately.

Ronnie White

Matthews learned Wednesday morning that Ronnie W. White, 67, was charged with three counts of deviate sexual assault after a woman made allegations that White performed sex acts on her about once a week for two years between 1991 and 1993 while she was a student at Parkview High School.

“It’s awful,” Matthews said. “This was a complete shock to me.”

Matthews was among White’s supervisors during his stint at Parkview.

Matthews said no allegations of White being inappropriate with students reached him during White’s time as the Vikings’ boys basketball coach.

According to court documents, the woman called White in February of this year, and in a recorded conversation he repeatedly apologized for his behavior while she was in high school.

In that conversation, White said he could not control himself, adding that it was “just a mistake.”

In the phone conversation, White called his encounters with the then-teenage girl a “fling” and said he and the girl had gotten “wrapped up in each other,” the statement says.

The alleged abuse occurred at the school and at the victim’s home, according to the statement.

According to the documents, a detective in March interviewed Robert Crawford, who was one of White’s assistant coaches at the time the sexual incidents allegedly occurred. Crawford, the woman told investigators, had once caught White engaged with her in a sex act, in the gym at Parkview High School, and that Crawford promptly left the room.

Court documents say during the interview, Crawford recounted a story of walking into a dark office where White watched game film and saw White and the girl “grabbing at their pants.”

The court documents say Crawford told the detective he wrote what he saw in a note and gave the note to one of the school counselors the day after the incident. What happened to the note and the counselor’s identity are unknown.

The News-Leader’s efforts to reach Crawford and Michael Kohr, who was principal at Parkview at the time of the alleged incidents, were not successful by press time Wednesday.

Springfield Public Schools spokeswoman Teresa Bledsoe told the News-Leader that the school district is fully cooperating with the Springfield Police Department to investigate the incidents.

Bledsoe did not say whether the school might investigate the matter internally.

Parkview basketball records show that White served as the team’s coach for nine seasons, from 1986 to 1995. In that time period, Matthews does not believe there was a formal procedure for teachers and coaches to report inappropriate behavior as there is now.

Today, all employees of Springfield Public Schools are mandated to report evidence of child abuse and neglect.

A bond recommendation document says White was the subject of multiple sexual harassment claims by different girls during his tenure.

White has posted bond in this case. His attorney, Dee Wampler, said he anticipates White pleading not guilty.

“Right now, they are mere allegations,” Wampler said. “My client has an outstanding record as a coach and teacher for many years with the Springfield school system.”

Wampler said White has no prior criminal record. White is married with two children. His career also included coaching stints at Central and at Republic.

“In accordance with law, if a student reports alleged sexual misconduct on the part of a school district employee to an employee of this district, the employee who receives the report and the superintendent shall immediately report the allegation to the (Children’s Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services) as set forth in law,” part of the Springfield Public Schools official policy for investigating child abuse and neglect reads.

Reporter Harrison Keegan contributed to this report.