MN Teacher, Track Coach Forced Girls Into Sex Acts: Police

WINON, MN — A 29-year-old Winona Senior High School teacher and track coach is accused of sexually assaulting three teenage girls.

Eric D. Birth, of Winona, was charged in three separate criminal complaints with four counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The incidents occurred between the summer of 2016 and April 2022, according to police.

On June 1, 2023, a Winona Police Department investigator received an anonymous tip that Birth had a sexual relationship with a former student during that student’s senior year of high school.

The investigator contacted "victim 1" later that day and spoke to her about the allegations, the criminal complaint states. She denied the allegations, saying that Birth was her track coach and nothing more. The case was subsequently closed.

However, on Jan. 2, 2024, the investigator received a phone call from Victim 1, who said she had lied during their previous conversation and asked if they could discuss her relationship with Birth.

Victim 1 met with the investigator the next day and said that sometime in January 2022, she and a couple of other girls would run before school to prepare for the upcoming track season. She explained that Birth started a group chat in Snapchat with her and these other girls.

In late April, Birth met Victim 1 inside his vehicle, where they talked before he forced her into a sexual act, according to the criminal complaint. Birth tried to persuade her to have a relationship with him for the next week or two, police said.

On Jan. 18, 2024, "Victim 2" contacted the investigator and asked to speak about Birth, according to the criminal complaint. The victim said she confided her issues with Birth. They performed sexual acts while she was 16 years old in the summer of 2016, police said.

On Jan. 26, 2024, the investigator spoke with a witness who said she used Birth’s phone one day while at track practice. While using the phone, she saw a video of another track member performing a sex act on Birth.

On Jan. 31, the nvestigator spoke with "Victim 3" who reported having a sexual relationship, including intercourse, with Birth in April and May of 2017, while she attended Winona Senior High School when she was 17 years old, according to the criminal complaint.

Like the two other victims, Victim 3 reported that Birth was her track coach at the time, had struggled with personal issues, and that she had confided in him about those issues, police said.

When asked, Victim 3 said she was unaware that a video of her performing a sex act on Birth existed, according to the criminal complaint.