Facebook messages lead to criminal probe of coach

A criminal investigation into “inappropriate messages” between Redan High School boys basketball coach Dalton Greene and a 14-year-old female student continued Tuesday, just as his former team faced a crucial test in regional playoffs.

Greene resigned his job Feb. 3 after DeKalb County school system police began investigating allegations that Greene and the student had been in contact on the popular social networking site Facebook, according to school system officials.

According to a police report released by the system, the girl’s sister found messages sent on Facebook between the two and told their mother, who then went to school police on Jan. 31.

Greene, a physical education teacher at Redan, worked for DeKalb since 1993, according to officials. The report indicated the girl was in Greene’s class last semester and would skip lunch to “hang out” in the gym. The report said the two also “exchanged numbers.”

Calls to Greene’s home Tuesday were not answered.

Greene has headed Redan’s hoops program since 2000. Redan’s Georgia Top-10 squad will appear Tuesday night in the boys’ 2 AAAAA Region Tournament against Union Grove. The game starts at 7 p.m.