Crime

Sentencing of former Ferris H.S. coach delayed because of COVID-19

May 21, 2020 4:14 PM

Melissa Luck,

Posted: May 21, 2020 4:14 PM

Updated: May 21, 2020 11:49 PM

by Melissa Luck

SPOKANE, Wash – A former Ferris High School coach accused of enticing underage girls for sex won’t be sent to prison until July, with the court citing the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason to delay his sentencing.

Charles Eglet was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court, but he was granted a continuance. In his request for that continuance, Eglet’s attorney wrote that he had been unable to meet in person with Eglet to prepare for sentencing due to COVID-19. Also, he stated that “Mr. Eglet wishes to appear in person in front of the court for sentencing and wishes to have support persons in the courtroom to address the Court on his behalf.”

The sentencing was reset for July.

Eglet is currently in the Spokane County Jail and will be there until his sentencing.

PAST COVERAGE: Former Ferris coach accused of having sex with second underage girl

Eglet pleaded guilty to online enticement of a minor and production of child pornography. He was originally charged with sex trafficking by force and child sex trafficking. He used Snapchat to befriend underage girls, then had sex with them.

In court documents, federal prosecutors call him “the person about whom parents warn their teenage daughters” and say his “predation of teenage girls is the ultimate cautionary tale for the age of smartphones and the internet.”

Prosecutors say things were made worse by the fact Eglet was a football coach at Ferris, “which gave him immediate and unfettered access to an untold number of teenage girls.”

The sentencing documents list several underage girls who Eglet contacted on Snapchat, even though he knew they were 14, 15 and 16 years old. He had sex with two of them, but prosecutors say he “was not always given the time he needed to groom a victim: time and access.”

Federal prosecutors recommend just over 22 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervision. They called his behavior “repetitive, egregious conduct, driven by his sexual interest in minors, which is unlikely to change.”