Ex-Grosse Pointe South hockey coach to plead guilty to sex charges

Ex-Grosse Pointe South hockey coach to plead guilty to sex charges
Paul Egan The Detroit News
November 04, 2009 02:02 AM

Detroit --A former Grosse Pointe South high school hockey coach is expected to plead guilty in federal court on Nov. 19 to producing child pornography.

Three federal counts of producing child pornography using materials that crossed state lines -- a felony with a 15-year minimum sentence -- were filed against Robert Bopp today. The plea hearing is scheduled before U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Duggan.

Bopp, once honored as one of the best hockey coaches in Michigan, will also plead guilty to sexually assaulting a teen boy and be sentenced to more than 17 years in prison, a prosecutor said today.

Bopp, 53, was accused of paying at least $150 to have oral sex with a boy in 2007 and 2008 when the victim was 14 and 15. He will plead guilty next year to first-degree criminal sexual conduct in a deal that carries a minimum sentence of about 17 1/2 years, prosecutor Lora Weingarden told a Wayne County judge.

As part of the federal charges, Bopp is expected to forfeit his home in Taylor and his 2008 Ford Escape, both allegedly used to commit his crimes.

Bopp was fired as coach after he was charged in June. He led the Blue Devils to a state championship game in 2007 and is a member of the hall of fame for Michigan prep hockey coaches.

At a court hearing in July, the alleged victim said he agreed to be paid to have oral sex with Bopp because he needed money for drugs. He said he was introduced to Bopp -- he knew him as "Justin" -- through an acquaintance.

There was no dispute the sex acts occurred. Andreoff had argued there was no evidence Bopp knew the boy was under 17. A judge, however, said that was no defense.

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