Ex-Clovis Christian coach accepts plea

CLOVIS — Scott Fly stood and shook slightly while addressing Judge Drew Tatum on Tuesday afternoon. His attorney Dan Lindsey put his arm around him and stilled his trembling shoulder.

His statement to the judge was brief: “I’m sorry, your honor. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

Fly pleaded no contest to criminal sexual communication with a child, a fourth-degree felony. By terms of the plea agreement finalized that afternoon, he received a deferred sentence of 18 months probation, along with the requirement to register as a sex offender for 10 years and pay various court fees.

“This is a very good deal, an extraordinary deal,” Tatum replied, calling Fly’s actions “a betrayal to our community, especially to that young lady.”

“You created a victim,” he said. “You were a coach with minor children and they were trusted to be with you.”

The judge referred to the former Clovis Christian School student, then 14, to whom Fly, 24, had sent “lewd and obscene” images while employed as an assistant track coach at the school, said Deputy District Attorney Jake Boazman.

Neither Fly nor the victim remain at CCS; the former stopped working at the school after his contract ended in mid-2017, and the girl has relocated out of state with her family.

The charges stemmed from last spring, when police were contacted after the victim’s mother found some disturbing details in her daughter's diary, Boazman said.

The investigation was forwarded to state police, and Fly was arrested in September.

Boazman read from a letter by the victim’s father, who said Fly “deserves far worse” and that he “used and manipulated (the victim) for his own sick pleasure.”

Standing in for DA Andrea Reeb, Boazman said prosecutors cleared the plea agreement with the victim and her family, who wish “to move on” and consider the plea’s conclusion a part of that.

The letter also included statements from the teenage victim, who said she “trusted the wrong person” and “will remember this for the rest of (her) life.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever trust someone the way I used to,” she wrote. “So many good memories spoiled, stuck in my head, and so many horrible memories.”

According to police, Fly said last August that he “could see (him)self making a stupid decision like this especially if it is coupled with that medication that (he) was taking and not being able to get on that, take any of that. ”

Police said then that Fly was “referring to taking CBD (Cannabidiol).” On Tuesday, he told the judge he was taking medication for anxiety but that it did not affect his ability to agree to the plea.

Lindsey said the conversations started as “innocent text messages at first,” although that was “not to minimize” what later happened.

“It’s a tragedy,” Lindsey said. “My client is very sorry. ... He has suffered the consequences and he will for the rest of his life.”

Fly is also listed as a defendant on a pending civil case against CCS, which is currently scheduled for a May jury trial through the 2nd Judicial District.

Tatum reminded Fly he could serve the remainder of his deferred sentence in custody if he violates any of his conditions of probation.

“If you choose not to take that seriously, then there may be only one other place for you,” the judge said.