Pinellas Wrestling Coach Charged in Student Battery Cases

A 45-year-old Clearwater man faces two counts of simple battery after Pinellas County deputies say he abused two former students.

Scott Stern was arrested Tuesday after an investigation was launched earlier this month. In an email to media, deputies say they received an anonymous complaint about Stern on Oct. 6. The complainant said a wrestling coach battered a student. During the course of the investigation, deputies found two victims, one 17 and the other 18.

The first victim, the 18-year-old male, told deputies in February Stern made him take off his clothes and then held him by the throat and groin as a form of “discipline.”

The 17-year-old told deputies he was battered on several occasions between August 2013 and May 2014. He told deputies Stern would make him take off his clothes and then Stern struck him with a ruler and his hands on his buttocks. Stern is also accused of conducting a strip search on the 17-year-old boy.

Since Stern worked as a teacher and wrestling coach at a private high school, deputies say there could be other victims. Anyone with information about victims is asked to call Det. Meredith Flashenburg of the Crimes Against Children Unit at 727-582-6200.

Photo Credit: Scott Stern/Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office