BROOMFIELD — Former Broomfield High School wrestling coach Travis Masse admitted Wednesday that he sent hundreds of sexually charged text messages to female students but said he did not have sex with a then-17-year-old student, as prosecutors allege.
Massey told jurors in his sexual-assault trial that the pressures of being a new husband, trying to have a baby and taking over the wrestling program at Broomfield High proved too much for him.
His texting of female students, including asking them to send him nude photos or to participate in a sex act, was “inexcusable,” he told jurors.
But Masse told jurors that he did not have sex with the girl who is the focus of the sexual-assault case against the former coach. The girl, now 19, married and living in Florida, testified that she and Massey had a string of sexual encounters during the 2008-09 school year.
Masse, 29, took the stand in his defense late Wednesday afternoon; his testimony will continue today in Broomfield District Court.
Earlier on Wednesday, Broomfield Police Detective Derek Mayer told jurors that Masse and the alleged sexual-assault victim exchanged 8,970 text messages over a three-month period beginning near the end of 2008.
Jurors also heard from two of Masse’s assistant coaches who said they never saw anything going on between Masse and the alleged victim.
Defense attorney Pamela Mackey contends that the young woman made up the sexual-assault claims. Prosecutors claim Masse’s persistent text messages led to sex.
While one former student testified Wednesday that she ignored his text messages, another — a senior at Broomfield High — said she responded to messages sent to her when she was attending her father’s wedding in Texas in 2009. In one message, Masse asked her if she wanted to be involved in a “threesome.”
Both young women testified that Masse, 29, did not touch them sexually. The current Broomfield High student said that while at her dad’s wedding, she refused Masse’s texting advances four times before she agreed. She said she exchanged 362 messages with Masse that weekend. She told jurors that Masse asked her for a nude photo of herself and that she sent him a photo of herself in a sports bra and boy shorts.
After the wedding, she noticed a change. “I noticed I didn’t have to work so hard in class,” she said.
She is involved in a second trial for Masse set for May. He faces a charge of attempted unlawful sexual contact with a child, also a felony.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
