Former Mead High girls basketball coach arrested on suspicion of sexual assault
Jan. 27—George (JR) Sagner, who coached girls basketball at Mead High School, was arrested in November after police investigated a Safe2Tell tip that he had "inappropriate relationships with his players for years."
Sagner, 30, was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to an arrest affidavit. His next court appearance, for a disposition hearing, is scheduled for April 11 in Weld County Court.
Sagner, who previously coached girls basketball at the Dawson School, was hired as the head coach for the Mead girls basketball team in the fall of 2019. He also worked as the assistant boys basketball coach at Longmont High School from 2013 to 2015.
The Safe2Tell tip was submitted in May, according to the arrest affidavit.
During the course of the police investigation, a woman who was a recent student at Mead High School told police she considered Sagner a mentor and confidant and developed a relationship with him while on the basketball team. Eventually, she told police, she babysat his kids and would go to his home in Fort Lupton to "hang out," sometimes eating dinner with his wife and kids, according to the affidavit.
She told police Sagner started drinking alcohol with her in the summer of 2021, when she was an incoming senior at Mead High. She told police "whenever they were drinking, they would end up kissing." She added that happened about three times, according to the affidavit.
On one occasion, she told police, she and another girl were at his home drinking and smoking marijuana when he put his hand down her pants and touched her, according to the affidavit. She also told police she began to withdraw from their relationship after that incident because she only wanted to be friends.
She quit the basketball team the fall of her senior year.
Police also interviewed the second girl, who confirmed the three were at Sagner's house drinking and smoking marijuana together.
"She stated the defendant would rub her legs and they would cuddle on the couch and flirt," according to the affidavit, but that it didn't go any further.
St. Vrain Valley spokeswoman Kerri McDermid confirmed that Sagner is no longer employed by the school district. The school district sent a letter in December detailing his arrest and the charges to the families of the players on the 2021-22 girls basketball team.
