Nashville high school football coach accused of soliciting student for sex

Leon W. Garlington, 25, was fired from his teaching and coaching role at RePublic High School, which is a charter school in north Nashville.

The 17-year-old victim told police she received a direct message on Instagram on Saturday from Garlington asking her when her birthday was.

According to the arrest report, Garlington "expressed disappointment that it was almost a year away."

Police said Garlington then asked the teen if she would like to do anything with him "like sex" and asked if she had been with an adult before.

A parent sent only News 4 the screenshots of the group message Garlington sent to his players.

It said in part “I made a mistake...and I wasn’t taking care of my business. It’s a very petty situation but I could have kept it from happening.”

Trey Perry, Mount Juliet head football coach and vice president of the Tennessee Football Coaches Association, said there’s a trust between coaches and students, and that was broken.

“I think it’s probably extremely difficult and it’s probably a conversation that parents are going to have to have with kids. Hopefully, there is growth from that part of it and you learn from it,” said Perry.

“If you’re going to be good at something you’ve got to spend time doing it, and a lot of times those relationships are fostered from that. So there is a connection there.”

According to the arrest report, Garlington sent his phone number to the teen and continued the conversation via text message.

-read more at WSMV