David Arthur Riden: CA high school football coach gets 9 years for secretly installing camera in girls’ locker room
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CALIFORNIA: Having secretly installed a camera in the girls' locker room and taking pictures of 21 females, a former assistant football coach at a high school in Southern California received a nine years and four months prison sentence on November 18. Former Los Osos High School employee, David Arthur Riden entered a guilty plea last month to charges of having more than 600 photographs of child sexual assault material.
The assistant football coach employed a kid to create that material and secretly photographed minors in the locker room using a hidden camera. Riden, 53, will be registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life in addition to serving his lengthy prison term. “Our Office is satisfied with the outcome of this plea, particularly on the felony charges,” the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “It ensures Riden is held accountable for his crimes and the victims will not have to endure a potentially lengthy trial and any further emotional trauma.” A high school employee discovered the camera in the locker room that was being used as a phone charger, leading to the man's initial arrest last year as per New York Post.
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Jordyn Stotts, one of his victims, and lawyer Gloria Allred made a public statement following Riden’s prison sentence. “Riden, the game you played was sick. I talked to you almost every single day thinking how nice and sweet of a person you were, and thinking of you as a coach who loves his job,” Stotts said at a press conference. “But this whole time, you’ve been going behind all of our backs, which is sick.” Some parents found the punishment "very disappointing," according to Allred, who is representing the victims and their families in a lawsuit against the school district. “Although Mr. Riden will be sent to prison, some parents felt that he should be sentenced to substantially more time in custody,” she said. “Many parents and their daughters have been on an emotional rollercoaster.”
Authorities asserted that they thought Riden secretly took pictures of 21 girls in a locker area using the camera. Chaffey Superintendent Matthew Holton issued a statement saying that administrators at California's second-largest high school district "remain deeply concerned" about the matter. “Our support for our students is unwavering and we will not tolerate any actions that infringe on their privacy,” Holton said as per Fox News.