Bond denied for Lithia Springs High School coach charged in sex assault

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By Christopher Seward and Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Douglas County judge denied bond Thursday for a Lithia Springs High School assistant football coach who admitted to having sex with a student and who told a magistrate he was a sex addict.

sjerkins, Douglas County Sheriff's Office Dennis Keith Brown, 52, a coach at Lithia Springs High School, is accused of engaging in sex with a 17-year-old student off campus and during school hours.

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Dennis Keith Brown, 52, is accused of engaging in oral sex with the 17-year-old female student off campus and during school hours in September.

Brown, a former principal and police officer, told Douglas County Magistrate Barbara Caldwell that he wanted to seek help for his addiction, according to Channel 2 Action News.

“Given the opportunity to bond out, I'm going to personally go and seek that help. I've got to do something. This is not me,” said Brown, who told the judge the off-campus sexual encounter with the student was a first for him.

“I've not done anything like this before, and I'm just sorry,” said the assistant coach, who was in his first year at Lithia Springs High School before resigning.

In denying bond, Caldwell told Brown she had "a concern about the fact that there might be other victims based on your admission today that you have a problem." He appeared before the judge without an attorney.

Brown was arrested Wednesday and charged with sexual assault. Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that based on information received during an initial investigation, authorities are looking into whether other students at the school on East County Line Road may have been victims of sexual assault by Brown.

“We interviewed one student, a 17-year-old, and she admitted to us that she had oral sex with Mr. Brown back in September,” the sheriff said. The sheriff said the encounter took place in the coach’s pickup truck at a Lee Road park-and-ride. Police said the investigation continues and other students were being interviewed.

Brown, who lives in Bremen in Haralson County, is a former principal at Villa Rica and Hart County high schools and is a former teacher, investigators said. He is also a former police officer in Warner Robins and Tennessee.

Brown is charged under the felony statute targeting sexual assault by a teacher, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator engaged in sexual contact with another individual enrolled at the same school.