Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
- Former Grantsville High School teacher Richard Craig Harrison was sentenced to nearly a year in jail for sexual abuse of a student.
- Harrison pleaded guilty to reduced charges in November, admitting to the sexual abuse of a teen girl in 2017.
- Controversy arose as teachers seemed to support Harrison in court, raising concerns about school environment and victim support.
GRANTSVILLE — A former Grantsville High School teacher and coach was sentenced to a year in jail and four years of probation Monday for the sexual abuse of a student in 2017.
Richard Craig Harrison, 36, was originally charged in Tooele's 3rd District Court with six counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, and object rape, a first-degree felony.
As part of a plea deal, Harrison — a former Utah State University quarterback — pleaded guilty in November to one count of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, and two diminished counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, which is a third-degree felony.
A female student had reported to police that during the 2017-2018 school year, Harrison sexually assaulted her in different locations in the high school, grabbing her breast and buttocks and, on one occasion, putting his hand down her pants, according to the initial police booking affidavit. The girl was between 14 and 15 years old at the time.
"The abuse happened in the ice room, storage closet, weight room and portable classroom," the affidavit says. Police say Harrison admitted, "he vaguely remembers when he put his hand down the front of (her) pants."
Harrison also told police he grabbed the girl's butt "as they were in the weight room with a bunch of students messing around," according to the booking report.
A dangerous environment
That hostile environment was evident to former student Oaklee Collings, who is a year older than the victim and told KSL.com this week that Harrison continually pushed the boundaries with his student relationships.
"During classes, he would have kids come up and sit by his desk during weights class," Collings said. "He would just sit and gossip with, often, members of the football team, and there were plenty of cheerleaders that he would talk to."
She added that "it always felt like he was trying to be one of the students" and said it was not uncommon for him to have the phone numbers of football players and "tons of girls' phone numbers."
Like in many child predator cases, Harrison "would reach out to them on different apps," Collings said. "It was always kind of like hush-hush that Craig Harrison was texting you, but it never really seemed to be about treatment."
"I have known from the time that I was a young 14-year-old girl, at my first summer weight-training course, that Coach Harrison was a pervert," she said.
In a letter submitted to the court, Harrison's ex-wife, Lindsey Harrison, claimed multiple inappropriate situations were reported to the Grantsville High School principal and the athletic director, but nothing was done.
The Tooele School District issued a statement saying, "We take all instances of sexual abuse very seriously and have policies to help ensure the safety and well-being of our students."
Teachers at the hearing
A number of teachers from the high school and district attended the sentencing. Concern was generated, however, when those teachers sat on the side of the defense with Harrison's family. Harrison's parents are also teachers at Grantsville High School.
"Two of them were retired teachers, two of them were his parents ... and then the other six to seven were current teachers," said April May, a parent of a current Grantsville High School student.
Collings' parents were in attendance — her father, a Tooele police captain, was in uniform. He said they "saw teachers that they've known since I was really young, a couple of which were some softball coaches of mine."
"They were with him and his family and hugging them and greeting them. They would not make eye contact with any of us on the prosecution side," May said. "Imagine making sub plans today to come and support this while the victim is one of your former students."
According to Collings, "Half the staff at Grantsville High School either taught (Harrison) or his siblings or has worked with his parents or worked with him directly."
May said the court received "crazy amounts of letters in support of him" despite the fact he pleaded guilty to the charges.
"I looked at those teachers and thought, if my son or daughter had to report something, they could not go to any of these teachers," May said.
Another parent of current students, who wished to only be identified by her first name, Adrienne, said the victim did "not have one teacher or administrator there on the (her) side." However, the parent saw an athletic trainer who occasionally works with her child on Harrison's side.
It was possible, Adrienne said, that the teachers did not realize which side was which. "Regardless of why they did it, they have to understand that there could be consequences and that they're sending a message, period," she said.
A man who drove from Idaho to support a former co-worker and was not connected to the school told KSL.com he never saw the teachers interact with Harrison directly.
A Tooele School District statement says, "While we understand that some district employees were in attendance at the sentencing, they did not represent the school or district in any official capacity."
Ex-head coach also had community support
The scene Monday was reminiscent of a hearing in November 2016 for ex-Grantsville head football coach Curtis Ware. Ware was convicted in June 2018 of one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old and two counts of dealing in materials harmful to a minor, all class A misdemeanors.
He also pleaded guilty to tampering with a witness in a separate case, a class A misdemeanor that was then reduced to class B, after court documents say he pressured the victim into changing her disclosure.
Ware's defense attorney Susanne Gustin said at the time, "(Ware) has a lot of support from football players, from staff, from people in the community. They definitely back him. He's well-loved in this community, and they definitely support him."
At the hearing, "many members of the community came out to support him."
Collings called it "disgusting" that the community is overlooking the abuse "simply because we sit by them at church, or because we knew so-and-so's brother from high school."
More charges
Harrison currently faces several felonies in other cases. He is charged with forgery, a third-degree felony, after allegedly sending an email to his ex-wife in 2022 posing as a family therapist, giving "advice to his ex-wife that she should forgive (Harrison's) indiscretions and attempt to reconcile with (him)" according to charging documents.
The therapist named in the email said she didn't write the letter, charges say.
The man also faces two counts of tampering with a witness, both third-degree felonies; and electronic communication harassment, a class B misdemeanor. Charges accuse Harrison of harassing his ex-wife and trying to convince her to drop charges in a separate justice court case.
Harrison is scheduled back in court on Feb. 18 for a preliminary hearing in those two cases.
