Arcata High School Coach Arrested on Molestation Charges – March 5, 2010
Updated to include HSU press release. – Ed.
ARCATA – On Thursday, March 4, 2010 26-year-old Timothy Ryan Dossey of Arcata, was arrested by the Arcata Police. Dossey was booked at the Humboldt County Jail on charges of Child Molestation and Sending Harmful Matter to Seduce a Minor.
According to an Arcata Police Department press release, Dossey was arrested after local school officials learned of the allegations and notified police. It is alleged that Dossey, an AHS Junior Varsity girls’ basketball coach, developed an inappropriate relationship with a female student.
Interim Police Chief Tom Chapman said investigators discovered inappropriate communications sent from Dossey to the alleged victim. “We didn’t locate any nude images, but there were text messages and e-mails that were way out of line and clearly inappropriate,” he said. Chapman said the girl just turned age 15.
The Arcata Police Department is continuing its investigation.
Late Friday afternoon, Humboldt State University issued a press release:
Arcata – The Arcata Police Department informed campus officials at mid-afternoon Friday, March 5, that it had arrested Timothy Ryan Dossey, a student at Humboldt State University.
Dossey, age 26 of Arcata, was booked on charges of child molestation and sending harmful matter to seduce a minor. He had allegedly developed an inappropriate relationship with a female student while working as an assistant basketball coach.
Dossey is a senior at HSU and is majoring in Liberal Studies Elementary Education. His employment at the high school as an assistant basketball coach is not connected with his HSU academic program.
In addition to criminal charges, Dossey faces the possibility of student disciplinary action at HSU.
