Video evidence gone in coach sex crime case

Criminal sex charges against well-known Des Moines high school coach Gerald "Tig" Johnson should be dismissed because video evidence that could have exonerated him has been destroyed, court documents filed Friday say.

The destroyed evidence has prompted Des Moines police to blame Des Moines school officials for the missing evidence. Johnson, the girls’ basketball coach at Roosevelt High School, was accused in December by a 16-year-old student of taking her out of class and into another room where, she said, he made sexual advances toward her.

Johnson was charged by Des Moines police with sexual exploitation by a school employee and assault with the intent to commit sexual abuse, and he was immediately placed on leave by the district. The charges — a felony and an aggravated misdemeanor — could result in prison time if he is convicted.

Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek told The Des Moines Register late Friday that the department is “looking into the circumstances” of the missing evidence but declined to say if the department has launched a criminal investigation against the school or any of its employees.

“I understand that when you read that (Friday’s motion to dismiss Johnson’s case), it looks like we misplaced evidence, but that’s not the case,” Parizek said.

Parizek said the video system is owned and controlled by the school. Police investigators gave strict instructions to the school to save the evidence for the criminal case, but those instructions were not followed, he said.

“The question you’re asking (why the video was destroyed) would be a really good one for the schools, because I’d really like to know what they have to say,” Parizek said.

Des Moines Schools spokesman Phil Roeder said the district saved the video on a computer system but the file became corrupted. Efforts to recover or fix the damaged file have been unsuccessful, he said.

“It’s very unfortunate that it happened, but it happened,” Roeder said. “Anyone who uses a computer knows that files can become corrupt.”

Des Moines attorney Alfredo Parrish on Friday filed a motion to dismiss the charges, alleging that failure to preserve the surveillance video makes it impossible for Johnson to receive a fair trial. That tape shows the girl and Johnson’s movement to and from classrooms, including another person entering the room, according to court documents.

Police used that tape to describe the scene in records of the case, including details about what the girl and Johnson were wearing.

But now the video is no longer available.  And the failure to preserve evidence violates Johnson’s state and federal constitutional rights to due process, particularly important in the “he said, she said” case, according to the motion to dismiss the charges.

Parrish declined to comment Friday, saying it was inappropriate for him to speak about the case at this point in the legal proceedings.

“Without the evidence from the surveillance tape, Johnson cannot defend against the two charges against him,” Parrish’s motion states.

Johnson, 46, is also a teacher at Roosevelt. He is in his first season with the team but previously coached at the school.

He led the team to a state championship in 2006 and a state runner-up finish in 2007. He left the program after the 2008-09 season, serving as an assistant at AIB College of Business in Des Moines for one season, then coaching at Saydel for five years.

The criminal complaint against him alleges that the girl was his student in the 2014-15 school year and that he had been calling her.

On Dec. 3, Johnson allegedly called the girl out of class, telling her teacher that he would bring her right back, then took her to his classroom. Johnson allegedly kept the girl in his room for more than an hour, kissing her, and touching her clothed breasts, inner thigh, groin and buttocks, court records show.

Johnson denies the claims.

A hearing on the motion to dismiss had not been set as of late Friday, court records show.