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1984 Olympic Silver Medalist Charged with Child Abuse
Arcadia Weekly Jun 07, 2017
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Olympic Silver Medalist, Danny Lee Harris, is charged with child abuse. –Courtesy photo
By Terry Miller
Pasadena resident coached at Arcadia High School track after hours
A former Olympic silver medalist been charged with reaching out to a teen girl for sexual purposes over two months.
Danny Lee Harris of Pasadena has been charged with six counts in case GA101246: two counts each of contact with minor for sexual offense, child abuse and child annoyance.
Harris was arraigned Tuesday in Department of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Alhambra Branch Prosecutors asked for $200,000 bail. Harris denied two counts of contact with a minor for sexual offense, two counts of child abuse and two counts of child annoyance.
Between April and May 2017, Harris, a track and field coach at Gabrielino High School in San Gabriel, allegedly sent inappropriate messages to an underage female student.
A relative of the victim reportedly discovered the messages and alerted authorities, prosecutors said.
Harris won the silver medal for the 400-meter hurdles at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The former breakout Olympic star is the subject of the upcoming documentary “Crossing The Line”, which traces his descent from elite athlete to drug addict, and his subsequent quest for redemption.
Sources tell Arcadia Weekly that Harris was also seen regularly at Arcadia High School track working with young athletes there. Ryan Foran, Public information officer with Arcadia High School, confirmed that Harris has been seen regularly on the campus track, coaching after hours. However, Foran stated that Harris is not on AUSD staff payroll.
On Friday June 2, Harris was arrested in connection with the crimes and charged four days later. He was released on bail of $5,000 Tuesday.
Harris is scheduled to appear at a pre-trial hearing June 16.
If convicted as charged, the defendant faces a possible maximum sentence of seven years in state prison.
The case is being investigated by the San Gabriel Police Department.
