Wrestling Coach, Under Investigation for Cancer Hoax, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Teen Boy
Criminal allegations against a 21-year-old Michigan man have gone from bad to worse after police investigating him for an alleged cancer hoax discovered he may also have sexually assaulted a 13-year-old boy.
Zack Jones, a former volunteer middle school wrestling coach, allegedly pretended to have leukemia and started raking in the donations. Police say he received more than $8,000 online, FOX-2 Detroit reported, and that’s not including money from fundraising events.
A Facebook event page for the Zack Jones Leukemia Fund Spaghetti Dinner says 178 people turned out in early October to donate to Jones’ cancer fight, paying $10 a ticket. In the comments, Jones’ community discussed “Coach Zack” t-shirts, bracelets, and a raffle to further support him. They told him he was loved, and thanked him for everything he’d done for the kids he coached.
But investigators say Jones never had leukemia, just a fake doctor’s letter. And the school where he volunteered last year has now sent a letter to the parents of wrestlers, informing them of the criminal sexual conduct charges against him.
The school told FOX-2 it does not know the identity of the 13-year-old alleged victim, or whether he was a wrestler, and wouldn’t be able to disclose that information anyway due to federal student privacy laws.
The abuse allegedly took place between June and September of this year.
Jones is being held on $2 million bond and could face life in prison if convicted of all charges, FOX-2 reported.