HOUSTON – A former youth softball coach is accused of grooming one of his players before having her spend the night at his apartment.
33-year-old Kendall Jerrod Frank is accused of felony child grooming after investigators found the former youth softball coach allegedly carried on a monthslong relationship with one of his players.
Constable Alan Rosen’s Precinct 1 investigators got the case after the girl’s parents found inappropriate things on her phone, including a text message in which Frank allegedly wrote, “You are the best boo I could ever want and need.....OMG I love you!”
Court documents said the father of the girl confronted Frank and he denied sending the messages. They also said the girl told her father that Frank had told her to delete all inappropriate messages between the two, leaving only messages about softball. The documents also said Frank told the girl not to tell anyone about their relationship or he would hurt or kill himself.
According to the court documents, the teen told investigators they spent the night alone together in Frank’s apartment and he asked her to have sex with him. They also say Frank bought two different necklaces for the teen around the time of her birthday.
“A lot of these cases are people that know the victim because they’re able to spend a lot of time around them and again, cultivate the relationship, get them confident,” said Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen. “You have to be involved in your children’s social media. You can’t let them sit in their rooms at ten at night and just surf the internet, because predators are doing the exact same thing.”
Rosen said two red flags include children stopping the use of their phone around parents to hide who they’re talking to or being sleep deprived from staying up too late on the internet.
Frank is out of jail after posting a $50,000 bond.
Constable Rosen urged parents to get software that can monitor their child’s activity on their phone.