CMS high school coach accused of sending explicit sexual messages to student, source says

A West Charlotte High School soccer coach is no longer with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools after accusations of exchanging explicit messages with an 18-year-old student.

A source with direct knowledge confirmed to Channel 9 that Ryan Copeland is accused of sending the former student messages over Instagram in May.

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Copeland helped to coach the JV girl’s basketball team at a camp at UNC Charlotte on June 16 when a teammate saw the two messaging each other on social media, the source said.

The players went into the stands and began sharing the back-and-forth conversations with their parents.

The messages were explicit, which led to Copeland leaving the district, the source said.

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CMS sent the following statement to Channel 9:

“We can confirm a Title IX report was filed after school administrators were notified about the incident. Title IX procedures were followed. We can also confirm that Copeland is no longer with CMS.”

The source said the district filed a Tite IX complaint and confirmed that Copeland is no longer with the district.

This news comes on the same day that Channel 9 learned that the head coach at the West Charlotte High School football team was suspended. CMS did not say why Sam Greiner was suspended, adding, “We do not comment further on personnel matters.”

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(Watch the video below: Head coach of West Charlotte HS football team suspended, CMS confirms)