Suspended Holt boys basketball coach El-Amin fired after being charged with sex crimes

LANSING — The Holt High School boys basketball coach has been fired following his May 2 arrest during a sex trafficking sting conducted by Lansing area law enforcement agencies.

Muhammad El-Amin, 36, was fired, Superintendent David Hornak said during Monday night's Board of Education meeting. Hornak did not say when El-Amin was fired.

"Our boys basketball coach was arrested, charged and arraigned for committing a crime," Hornak said. "We have since terminated employment with this individual."

In a letter to parents May 3, Hornak said El-Amin was placed on administrative leave immediately after the district learned of the charges against him.

El-Amin was arraigned May 3 in 54A District Court on one count of child sexually abusive activity, two counts of computers-internet-communicating with another to commit a crime, and accosting children for immoral purposes — all felonies.

A hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence for El-Amin to stand trial on the charges is scheduled for May 24.

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A magistrate set a $20,000 personal bond for El-Amin, with conditions that he has no unsupervised contact with minors and stay away from areas where minors might frequent, including schools and parks, court records indicate. Records indicate he applied for a court-appointed attorney.

He was caught in one of several child sex stings conducted by members of the Lansing Police Department's Special Operations unit, Eaton County Sheriff's Office and Michigan State Police on May 2 and May 3, according to an LPD release and a Lansing police investigator who testified in a court document that led to charges being issued against the Holt coach.

Police say El-Amin responded to an online ad, requesting that a decoy posing as a 15-year-old girl perform a sex act on him, the investigator said. Officers saw El-Amin arrive at the agreed upon meeting location and arrested him, the investigator testified.

El-Amin did not respond to a phone message requesting comment.

He was hired to coach the Holt boys in May 2023. He is a 2005 Holt graduate and helped the Rams win the Class A state championship in 2005. Following his graduation, he was an All-American at Lansing Community College before going on to Stony Brook. He was an American East player of the year and was an Associated Press honorable mention All-American in 2010.

El-Amin later played professionally overseas.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Suspended Holt boys basketball coach El-Amin fired after being charged with sex crimes