Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Michael Anthony Fox of Cresson and Bradley Paul Rousell of Portage entered their pleas.

The former coaches will be required to register under the SORNA, or Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, for 15 years, have no contact with minors, and each face three years of probation.

The two former coaches for the Portage Area High School wrestling team were accused of asking their athletes to bring in and share photos of their female classmates.

“These men were trusted by the students, parents and faculty at Portage (Area) High School, and they abused that trust,” Shapiro said. “Michael Fox and Bradley Rousell were supposed to mentor young men. Instead, they manipulated students to participate in illegal and exploitative photo swapping.”

Rousell

According to the attorney general’s office, investigators became aware of the issue when a complaint was filed through the Safe2Say Something program.

The program allows children and adults to submit anonymous tips to the attorney general’s office if they believe there is a threat to themselves or others.

According to Shapiro’s office, the images were shared on several occasions in December 2018 and December 2019, during the annual West Mifflin Wrestling Tournament in Allegheny County.

The images were allegedly shared during what was described as a mandatory team bonding meeting in one of the coaches’ hotel rooms.

The defendants would start pressuring student-athletes to bring photos of female classmates several days or weeks in advance, with Fox and Rousell asking their athletes if they “got pics” and that they “better be getting them ready” prior to the tournament.

The sharing of these images at this tournament was described as a tradition by both current and former varsity wrestlers.

“After receiving correspondence from the Safe2Say hotline the morning of Feb. 6, 2020, involving a serious allegation involving students and staff, school officials reached out to law enforcement for assistance,” Eric Zelanko, superintendent of the Portage Area School District, told WPXI, Channel 11.

“Throughout the investigation, school officials cooperated to the best of our abilities in the investigation of these allegations as the safety of our students and staff are of utmost importance,” Zelanko said.

Zelanko told WPXI that Fox and Rousell are no longer employed by the district. Fox had been head coach and a teacher. Rousell was an assistant coach.

“What these coaches did was not only an abuse of power, but a violation of trust to the faculty and students at Portage,” Shapiro said. “Forcing students to share pornographic photos with their adult coaches is disturbing, illegal and abusive to the young adults they were supposed to be mentors to. Instead of coaching these boys how to be responsible young men, they used them.”