Volunteer coach at Legacy High School faces sexual misconduct charges

A Legacy High School girls basketball coach was arrested Tuesday and faces charges of sexual misconduct with a player, according to Clark County School District police.

Angelo Cruz, a 23-year-old junior varsity coach, was volunteering for his first season at the North Las Vegas school and was not employed by the district in any other capacity, said Sgt. Mitch Maciszak, who started investigating Cruz on Feb. 6.

Parents, students and staff expressed their suspicions after seeing that the coach and player interacted more intimately than usual.

The player was 16 years old, which is the age of consent in Nevada.

However, state law says a teacher, administrator, coach or volunteer is prohibited from having sex with a student “enrolled in or attending the school at which the person is employed or volunteering.”

Cruz is being charged with two counts of sexual misconduct with a student and is being held in the Clark County Detention Center on $10,000 bail for each count.

Police wouldn’t reveal the nature of those two sexual acts but said they were confirmed in a statement from the 16-year-old girl, from text messages and from a statement by Cruz when officers confronted him Tuesday.

Maciszak said he was unaware where Cruz went to school, but Cruz’s Facebook page shows him graduating from Legacy in 2008 and then attending the Kairos School of Ministry until 2011.

Cruz hasn’t been allowed to volunteer as a coach since the investigation started, Maciszak said.

Contact reporter Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@review journal.com or 702-383-0279.