TOMS RIVER, NJ (WCBS 880) — A Jersey City high school track and field coach is being charged sexually touching a student during a state championship meet in Tom’s River earlier this month, officials said Monday.
The coach, 61-year-old Thomas Downes, turned himself in Toms River police Monday and is charged with endangering the welfare of a child and criminal sexual contact for the Feb. 12 incident at the John Bennet Athletic Bubble, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s office said in a statement. He was released after being issued summonses.
Downes allegedly approached the teen girl at the meet and touched her. She told her coach who notified the authorities.
A former head track and field coach at New Jersey City University, Downes was most recently a physical education teacher at County Prep High School in Jersey City which an annual salary of $109,034, according to state pension records.
Downes’ last day of work at County Prep was Feb. 24, according to a district spokesperson.
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