FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A security specialist and a third alleged victim took the stand in the trial of a former Coral Springs Middle School coach accused of sexually assaulting students.
Prosecutors made their case against Robert Grant as the trial entered its third day, Friday.
They said surveillance video from October 2017 captured the suspect at Coral Springs Middle School with a 15-year-old student he allegedly molested.
Prosecutors said, because Grant was a custodian and an assistant coach, he had access to the school through a master key, and he knew where the cameras were.
“No classrooms have cameras, no,” said Karl James, a security specialist for Coral Springs Middle.
When asked whether there are any surveillance cameras in the gym, James replied, “The gym is considered a classroom, so therefore, there’s no cameras.”
Prosecutors said Grant and the student, who needed help with algebra, seen on surveillance video entered the building just after 6 p.m. They are seen walking down a hallway.
“Where are they walking into now?” a prosecutor asked James.
“Right now they’re walking into the gym,” said James.
The security specialist said Grant was well liked by students.
“His interaction with pretty much most of the kids was, he was good with the kids,” he said. “If they were getting out of line, he would put them back into line. He mentored a lot of kids, too. He was really an asset to the school with the kids.”
While at the gym that evening, prosecutors said, Grant began stretching the teen, then performed oral sex on him.
That student, now 17, testified on Tuesday that the coach molested him while applying a Tiger Balm on his groin area to treat a track injury.
“As he put [the balm] on my penis, he put it to my knee areas, he was in between my legs, his hands were already there, so he was massaging my penis,” he said.
Surveillance video shows Grant walking out of the building at 8:50 p.m. The footage shows him carrying what appears to be tissues.
Prosecutors said this was after the sex act.
“We see there the defendant walking out. What is on the other side of that?” a prosecutor asked James.
“Coming out the back door, you go into an area where the dumpsters are,” said James.
A third teen took the stand on Friday. He claimed the assistant coach touched him inappropriately while stretching.
“He’s like, he needs to get the blood flowing to my penis to make my leg feel better, my groin area feel better,” he said.
“What does he do after he says that?” asked a prosecutor.
“He pulled my penis out and tried to get the blood flowing,” said the teen.
The teen went on to say that he felt violated by that act and only came forward after he saw a news report about Grant’s arrest.
If convicted, Grant faces life behind bars.
His trial is scheduled to resume on Monday.
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