Crothersville High School Athletic Director and boys’ varsity basketball coach Gregory T. Kilgore, 52, of Crothersville was arrested just before noon last Wednesday on a Jackson Circuit Court warrant charging him with child solicitation.
On Wednesday, March 18, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department received a report of possible inappropriate messages being sent through social media from a Crothersville High School employee to a 14 year-old female who is an 8th grade student at Crothersville.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Detective Mark Holt conducted the initial investigation into the allegations after being contacted by Jackson County Department of Child Services. The incident had been reported to JCDCS by Crothersville School administrators, according to court documents.
Through the investigation, it was learned that inappropriate messages were sent from Kilgore to the 14 year-old female, according to Holt’s report.
According to the court documents, in January of this year Kilgore asked to follow the teenager on social media.
According to the court document filed by Holt, the teenager agreed explaining that she was involved in athletics in the middle school and thought the high school basketball coach was just interested in sports at the school.
Holt’s report read that the victim said Kilgore began sending her messages “telling her to smile” and “that she was pretty”. The teenager told the detective that Kilgore would wink and smile at her in the hallways at the school, the court document read.
But the messages became sexual in nature the week of March 16, according to Holt’s affidavit.
The teenager took screen shots of the messages and gave them to her mother who notified CHS Principal Adam Robinson.
Due to content in the messages, Kilgore was charged with child solicitation, a Level 5 felony, by Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Carnes and Jackson Circuit Court Judge Richard Poynter signed a warrant for his arrest on Tuesday, March 24.
Jackson County Detectives located Kilgore at residence in Jennings County on Wednesday, March 25, around 11 a.m. and was incarcerated in the Jackson County Jail. Kilgore was released from jail at 3:08 p.m. on Thursday after posting a $1,000 cash bond. As a condition of the bond Kilgore is to have no contact with the juvenile victim, according to Judge Poynter.
North Vernon attorney Mark J. Dove has been retained by Kilgore to defend him. A not guilty plea has been entered in the case and a jury trial has been scheduled for Sept. 22 in Jackson Circuit Court.
Earlier last month Kilgore coached the Crothersville Tigers to their first boys’ basketball sectional title in the school’s history. After first postponing the Regional because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IHSAA then canceled the remainder of the state tournament.
Kilgore resigned his school coaching and athletic director positions after the allegations were made, according to school superintendent Dr. Terry Goodin.
The investigation is on-going and authorities ask that any parent or student which knowledge of this or any additional messaging to contact the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department if you believe you have any additional information.