The head coach of a Pembroke Pines high school soccer team was arrested Friday for allegedly soliciting a girl and sending her sexual messages, police said.
Owen Cleveland Gayle, 38, of Davie, is facing charges including transmission of harmful material to a minor, solicitation and promoting the sexual performance of a child, according to the Pembroke Pines Police Department.
Police said the victim, a juvenile female, met the suspect while she volunteered with the boy's soccer team at Somerset Academy. The suspect used WhatsApp to communicate with the team about practice and game schedules and was also talking to the victim privately through the app, police said.
Gayle sent the victim "inappropriate text messages and content that was sexual in nature," police said. He also sent her nude pictures of himself and solicited the victim for nude images of herself.
The victim alerted another soccer coach about the messages, who then alerted the authorities, police said.
Gayle was arrested Friday in Plantation and admitted to the charges, according to police.
The Somerset Academy website lists Gayle as the head varsity soccer coach. Police said he also offered private soccer lessons through Soccer Elite Training, First Touch Academy and the City of Weston AYSO Select Program.
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Because Gayle worked closely with minors, Pembroke Pines police are urging anyone with additional information to come forward and for parents to speak to their children. Anyone with info should call police at 954-431-2200 or Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
