Vic Ryckaert, Justin L. Mack, and Madeline Buckley

IndyStar

While detectives investigated accusations that a basketball coach repeatedly coerced a 15-year-old student to send him explicit images, administrators and an attorney for a prestigious Indianapolis private school hindered the investigation, federal court documents reveal.

A searing federal criminal complaint that charges former Park Tudor basketball coach Kyle Cox, 31, with a sex offense tells two stories: one that describes the former coach’s confidence that he “could work anywhere in the state” after the school learned about the inappropriate messages, and another that raises questions about whether school officials impeded the investigation.

A statement released by a Park Tudor spokeswoman, though, noted that school officials reported the allegations against Cox to the Department of Child Services within 24 hours. The spokeswoman declined to comment further. "The safety of our students continues to be our top priority," the statement read.

Cox, a once-rising star at one of Indiana's most exclusive schools, was arrested Thursday at his Fishers home by the FBI and Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force after he abruptly resigned from the school Dec. 15. He is charged with one count of coercion and enticement, which carries a possible punishment of 10 years to life in prison.

Flanked by his attorney, Jim Voyles, Cox appeared at an initial hearing Thursday afternoon in a federal courtroom. Members of his family attended the hearing while a judge advised Cox of his rights. Other than confirming for the judge his education level and that he understood the charge against him, Cox made no statements in open court. No plea was entered by Cox or his attorney.

"He was the aggressor — planning, coercing, and acknowledging that a planned sexual encounter —which thankfully was stopped just in time — was 'his idea,'" said Stephen M. Wagner, the attorney for the victim's family.

The complaint, which was unsealed at Cox’s hearing, alleges that Cox developed a relationship with a 15-year-old student during this school year's first semester. In addition to sending sexually explicit messages to the girl, Cox devised a plan to bring the girl to his home while his wife and children were out of town and tried to persuade the girl to meet him for sexual activity at the school, court documents said.

But his plans fell apart when the girl’s father discovered messages between his daughter and Cox, according to court documents.

The documents say the girl's father met with school officials on Dec. 14 and showed them an extensive array of screen shots of explicit messages between his daughter and Cox, which included a graphic picture of the girl. He allowed school officials and the school's attorney to review the material on his computer overnight. The head of the school at the time was Matthew D. Miller, who committed suicide Jan. 23.

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The attorney, who is unnamed in court documents, took the materials to his law office to create new copies and store them on a thumb drive, court documents said. He then returned the laptop and other items to Park Tudor.

The next day, Cox resigned, and the school filed an official report to the Department of Child Services, as required by law. The court documents, though, say the report was lacking in detail and did not say anything about the explicit messages the school and the attorney had in their possession.

The school also allowed Cox on Dec. 15 to take a school computer home to remove "personal" content, the criminal complaint said.

When police went to Park Tudor on Jan. 5 to speak with the person who filed the original report, she said she did not have any additional knowledge of the incident she reported because she was provided the information by the attorney representing the school, according to court documents.

The attorney told investigators that he would not offer any information because his conversations with school officials were “privileged communications,” court documents said. Police explained the importance of finding out who was in possession of the messages, but the attorney said that school officials held the computer only for a short time before returning it to the father.

The attorney said he believed that Park Tudor officials had done everything that they needed to do, according to court documents, and cited attorney-client privilege when refusing to provide additional information.

Two days later, on Jan. 7, police obtained warrants and searched Park Tudor, Cox and Cox’s home. When executing the searches, police confiscated employment records and a cellphone.

It wasn't until police began searching the school that the attorney told detectives that he received a laptop and documents from the girl’s father about three weeks earlier, court documents said.

On Jan. 11, the girl told police that Cox began texting her in September, court documents said. She said Cox began asking her “weird questions." She said the conversations made her feel uneasy.

The girl told police that as time went on, Cox sent her explicit photos without warning. She said Cox also asked her to send nude images and videos, which she provided.

The girl said she also exchanged messages via Snapchat with Cox, whose username was “bigsilkysmooth.”

The girl said when she first got caught sending nude images, she told her father it was with another minor, court documents said. After her parents learned that it was Cox, the girl said Cox contacted her on Instagram and told her to lie about the relationship so he could keep his job.

Cox also told the girl to make sure he didn’t go to jail, court documents said.

She also told police that Cox had been planning since October to meet at his home in December, court documents said. She said that Cox wanted her to tell her parents that she was staying with a friend so that she could sneak away.

While planning, Cox warned the girl not to say anything by texting her, “I swear if you ever say something,” court documents said.

Cox also tried to persuade the girl to take the blame and say that she had taken Cox's iPad from his office and planted the explicit messages on it, the documents alleged.

Police also learned that Cox signed a confidentiality agreement with the school on the day of his resignation. This agreement kept him from having any communication with Park Tudor students and from discussing the reason for his resignation.

The criminal complaint said Cox texted a male student the day after signing the confidentiality agreement. He told the male student that everyone was supporting him and is quoted in court documents as texting, “the nice thing is that I can get any job in the state … I’ve positioned myself to be marketable.”

Police also say Cox made a reference to the male student hurting the girl at the center of the investigation by texting the male student, “I would turn my head if you messed her up,” court documents said. He also messaged, "Just keep your nose clean," according to court documents.

Cox later texted, “I’m sure you’ll find the right chance to say something to her.”

The girl's parents issued a statement Thursday.

"My wife and I would like to thank the local and federal law enforcement officials who worked so diligently to make sure Kyle Cox was taken off the street," they said in the statement. "Throughout this ordeal, God’s love and the support of our daughter’s classmates and the entire Park Tudor community have given us renewed hope. Cox’s depravity is shocking — we are just thankful that we discovered his actions when we did. As our family moves forward, we will work with the school to make sure that this never happens again at Park Tudor. Our primary focus will continue to be on our daughter’s well-being, and we thank everyone in advance for respecting her privacy. Lastly, we want to remind all parents in the community to follow your intuition when it comes to the safety of your children."

Park Tudor hired Cox in 2009 as an assistant coach and assistant athletic director. He had been considered a rising coaching talent who used analytics and technology to improve his team. He led Park Tudor to a 55-6 record and back-to-back Class 2A state championships.

Brian Snow covers basketball recruiting for Scout.com and lives locally. He has known Cox for several years, covering Yogi Ferrell, Trevon Bluiett and other top prospects at Park Tudor.

“The first emotion is shock,” Snow said of the charge filed against Cox. “It’s obviously unfortunate on many different levels. He’s a guy I got to know fairly well over the last few years, and this is not something you would have expected.”

Cox was a basketball standout at Blue River High School in Henry County. He played golf and basketball at Ball State University.

Cox was remanded into federal custody at the end of Thursday's hearing. He will remain in custody through the weekend until a pretrial detention hearing, scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday.

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IndyStar reporters Michael Anthony Adams and Kyle Neddenriep contributed to this story. Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at (317) 444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack. Call IndyStar reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2701. Follow him on Twitter: @vicryc.