Cape Coral softball coach arrested for alleged inappropriate behavior with student

A volunteer softball coach at Oasis High School has been arrested on multiple charges due to his alleged inappropriate behavior with a student.

On Jan. 19, a student at Oasis High School reported to staff that 42-year-old Erik Rodriguez had been sending sexually explicit text messages and nude photos showing his face to another student. 

Cape Coral Police Department Detectives responded and met with the student who reported the information.

That student also said others at school were talking about the messages between Rodriguez and the victim.

Detectives met with the victim, who provided her cell phone and passcode to access the contents of the phone.

The investigation revealed Rodriguez inappropriately communicated with a student, during which time he sent and requested nude photos from the student.

The investigation also revealed Rodriguez inappropriately touched the victim over her clothes. 

“I am surprised that I did not hear anything,” a parent said. “It should have been known. I mean, there wasn’t a background check done or anything like that?”

But a background check was done according to what the superintendent told Cape Coral Police.

Police said this was Rodriguez’s first season coaching softball at the school.

Here’s the thing: the Lee County School District confirmed he used to “volunteer coach” at North Fort Myers High from 2020 through 2023.

Rodriguez was taken to the Lee County Jail on Wednesday.

Rodriguez faces multiple third-degree felony charges. A judge set his bond at $60,000.

He’s being charged with indecent, lewd or lascivious touching of minors, transmission of harmful materials to a minor and soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct.