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It would be premature to comment on whether Eric Riggins had inappropriate interaction with students at Hernando High School. Administrative and criminal investigations have not been completed, and, as it is important for everyone to remember, even if he is charged with a crime, he deserves his day in court.
As it turns out, court is a place with which Riggins is familiar.
And that is the point.
Withhold judgment for now about the current investigations, which center on Riggins, 31, sending sexually suggestive messages to a student and partying with students in Clearwater on prom night. Assume, if you will, that his resignation last week as head track coach and assistant football coach at Hernando High has nothing to do with his guilt or innocence. Go a step further and trust that when he used to coach at Nature Coast Technical High School, and he worked as a teacher's aide at the STAR alternative school, he was a model citizen.
But that's about all the benefit of the doubt I can dispense right now, because I just can't get past this question:
What the heck is he doing in our schools in the first place?
Ten years ago Riggins was charged with burglary and assault of his girlfriend, whom he threatened to kill, according to court documents cited by my colleague Tom Marshall, who has reported this story on the news pages. Riggins pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of aggravated assault. Still, that's a third-degree felony and he was doggone lucky to be sentenced by Judge Jack Springstead to only five years' probation.
Two years later, the cops nabbed him for allegedly selling marijuana to an undercover officer. An undisclosed problem with a witness persuaded the State Attorney's Office to drop the charge.
Still, the smoke from those flare-ups with the law did not stop the Hernando County School District from hiring Riggins in 2003 as an aide at the STAR Center, which leads to my next question:
Who hired Riggins, and does that person still have the authority to hire others with similarly unsavory credentials?
I might be able to sing another verse of the benefit-of-the-doubt tune for the person(s) who hired Riggins and promoted him if he were in a different job, say a mechanic, or paper-pusher, or computer whiz.
But this man, who has a documented history of violence against a woman, and the suspicion of law enforcers that he has dallied with drugs, was hired into a position that brought him into direct contact with students — troubled ones, at that. Then he was promoted twice to be a coach, a job that puts him front and center with even more students and demands he be an authority figure and role model.
I wonder, will students who knew about his past indiscretions interpret that as an acceptable career path?
When Riggins applied for a coaching certificate, the Florida Department of Education turned him down. Perhaps officials saw something the school district here overlooked. But then another state commission granted Riggins' appeal and gave him a provisional certificate, along with a reprimand and a small fine. Apparently they saw things differently — obviously different from how I see them.
Riggins may be a fine fellow; I've never met him. But the point is this:
There are lots of people who need jobs, especially jobs working for a reasonably dependable employer like the government, who do not have such dubious histories. If one of them who was passed over for Riggins' first job at the STAR center had been hired, maybe we wouldn't be sitting around now waiting to hear if ex-coach Riggins is headed for court again.
And maybe we could save our benefit-of-the-doubt disclaimers for someone more deserving.
Jeff Webb can be reached at webb@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6123.
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