Former DC Teacher Accused of Sexual Relationship With Student

A teacher who worked in several schools in D.C. and Florida is accused of having a sexual relationship with a student beginning when she was 14 years old.

Alan Wade Coleman, 45, was arrested in Gainesville, Florida, where he was working as a teacher and tennis coach at Eastside High School. Coleman is wanted in D.C. for allegedly having sex with a female student who was 14 years old at the time, according to police records.

The charges include first-degree sexual abuse of a minor and possession of child pornography.

Coleman is accused of having a five-year sexual relationship with the student beginning when she was 14 and continuing until she was 19 years old, according to police records from Florida.

At the time the alleged relationship began, Coleman taught at the KIPP DC Key Academy in Southeast, where he was the victim’s teacher, according to police reports.

An affidavit for a search warrant of Coleman’s two homes and car in Florida show the victim told police Coleman would have her dress up in costumes and wigs, including a school girl uniform and a purple wig, and Coleman would use what are described in court documents as “props” while having sex with her. She also told police Coleman would take naked pictures of her, including pictures of her when Coleman took the 14-year-old victim to visit his parents in Tennessee for Christmas.

Police seized several cameras, phones and hard drives from his Florida homes.

The U.S. Marshals Service and Gainesville Police arrested Coleman May 10. He was released on $50,000 bond and placed on electronic monitoring, according to court records.

Coleman will be required to appear before a D.C. Superior Court judge, but the court has yet to schedule that hearing, according to court records.

The principal at Capital City Charter School in D.C., where Coleman taught for 10 years, sent a letter to parents informing them of the arrest. The letter states the victim was never a student at Capital City Charter and Coleman was fired shortly after the school learned of the allegations in 2015.

Shortly after being fired from that job, Coleman was hired as a teacher in Florida. Court records show Coleman also taught for D.C. Public Schools at Miner Elementary School from 2000-2003 before working at KIPP from 2003 to 2005.

KIPP sent a letter parents saying the school recently learned about the arrest.

"This news is deeply disturbing," the letter reads. "Ensuring the safety and well-being of our students is our first and most important responsibility. KIPP DC conducts rigorous and thorough background checks on all of our employees, and we work hard to ensure your children are safe and protected when they are in our care."

Coleman has been suspended from his teaching job in Gainesville.