BETHESDA, Md. — Montgomery County police say they are concerned about the possibility that there may be more victims after a well-known assistant football coach was accused of sexually abusing two student-athletes at Wootton High School in 2017 and 2018.
Twenty-six-year-old Christopher Papadopoulos, known as "Coach Pap" to his players, was charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor and released on bail.
Papadopoulos was a former star quarterback at Wootton himself, returning to the school in 2016 after college to be the football team’s offensive coordinator, according to his defense attorney, Rene Sandler.
According to the charges, Papadopoulos invited one victim to his home in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
The victim “understood the meetings to be as player-coach, and have the purpose of improving his football skills … and helping him contact college football coaches," the court documents said, and one parent said that despite the coach’s young age, she considered Papadopoulos to be a “father figure” to her son.
But what began as stretching sessions allegedly turned to unwanted sexual contact, according to the charging documents.
“I never felt like I had the power to just say no or stop,” the victim reported.
According to the charges, a second victim alleged being pressured to send "sexted" photos and claimed unwanted sexual contact after Papadopoulos was invited to the student’s home.
In a letter to parents Wootton principal Kimberly Bolden called the charges troubling and she appealed for anyone with additional information to contact police.
"At this point, we don't know that this individual has committed any other sexual assaults but we asked the public's help in identifying other victims or coming forward so that you know justice can be served,” State's Attorney spokesman Ramon Korionoff said.
Sandler maintains that the coach is innocent.
“We have received an overwhelming amount of support for him”, Sandler told WUSA9 in a phone conversation.“He’s a very well respected football player and football coach and mentor in ways a lot of young people lack.”
Papadopoulos, who is also employed in the financial industry according to Sandler, is no longer a coach at Wootton. The school's football season was suspended this year because of COVID-19.