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Howard University Soccer Coach Charged With Soliciting Minor

By Traver Riggins
Black College Wire

After his first season as the head coach for the men's soccer team, Joseph Okoh was arrested Friday for soliciting sex from a 13-year-old girl over the Internet.

howard-bison.com Howard soccer coach Joseph Okoh

He was arrested in Louisa County, Va., around 9 p.m., said Donald Lowe, Chief Deputy of the Louisa County Sheriff's Office.

Okoh has been suspended from all Howard University activities until the investigation is complete, according to a university statement.

"Howard University has zero tolerance for the violation of any University policy and our code of conduct," the statement said.

Okoh, who was denied bail in court on Monday, was charged with a felony count of using a communication system to solicit a person under 15 years of age with lascivious intent, statute 18.2-374.3 of the Virginia Commonwealth.

The charge carries a mandatory five-year sentence with a maximum 10-year sentence. According to Lowe, the case could take up to a year to process through the courts.

Okoh was caught by a sting operation as part of a multi-regional task force in Virginia against Internet crimes targeting children called Blue Ridge Thunder.

"We've had it up for about a year and the majority of that year was training," Lowe said.

It was not until recently that officers started setting up accounts to attract predators. They apprehended their first perpetrator around Thanksgiving. Okoh is the second person the task force has apprehended.

A deputy in the Louisa County Sheriff Department set up an instant messenger account posing as a 13-year-old girl to attract potential predators.

"He was contacted by an adult male and they had a conversation over Yahoo Instant Messenger," Lowe said. "During the course of the conversation, he [Okoh] agreed to drive down to Louisa County to meet the '13-year-old girl' for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity."

According to Lowe, Okoh drove from Arlington, Va. to Louisa County to meet the girl on Friday night.

"It's not a localized problem," Lowe said. "It's a national one. It's not a certain race or class or group of people. It can be anybody, so it's very important for law enforcement agencies to become active to protect the children."

But what could be a celebration for law enforcement could be the demise of the Howard men's soccer team.

Over the past year, Okoh has worked to restore the struggling team.

"I feel like the team is rebuilding because of his help," said Anton Render, a senior psychology major. Render took the past season off, but worked with Okoh on the team during the 2006 season before Okoh was appointed head coach.

"It could do two things: either they may find another coach, just as good if not better, who could pick the team up, or they're just going to go down hill even more," Render said.

The news of Okoh's arrest took Render by surprise. Okoh has two young daughters and a son who plays on the Howard soccer team, Render said.

"I know he wouldn't want another man doing this to one of his daughters," Render said.

He said the coach instilled a strong work ethic in the men of the team and seemed to be a man of his word.

"We take pride in what it means to put on a Howard University soccer uniform," Okoh told The Hilltop in a preseason interview. "We are a part of a great tradition here at Howard University. We are building this soccer program from the ground up and taking Howard back to its glory years."

Howard is the only historically black college or university to win a championship in Division I soccer.

"To tell you the truth, if he was still going to stay around, I saw the team really improving," Render said. "Three years from now, I could see us definitely going to the championship."

The incident has brought both local and national media attention to the university, with news stations interviewing students after the men's basketball game Monday night.

During the day, text messages circulated through student cell phones, chain letter style, dispersing the information.

While Render believes this attention may deter students from coming to Howard, he said it will bring more attention to the soccer team.

"It's going to bring back the interest of soccer," he said. "It's going to give us the wrong kind of attention, but it's going to bring attention."

Traver Riggins is campus editor of The Hilltop, Howard University's student newspaper, which originally published a version of article.

Posted Jan. 29, 2008