Howard “Skip” Frank Lee Jr., the volunteer wrestling coach at Black Hills High School accused of sexually assaulting a student athlete, has pleaded not guilty to two gross misdemeanor charges.
Lee, 57, of Tumwater, was charged March 6 in Thurston County District Court with one count each of fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation and communication with a minor for immoral purposes.
His bail was set at $15,000, which court records indicate he posted on March 11.
His next mandated court appearance is a pretrial hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. on April 7.
His conditions of release include a provision prohibiting him from having any contact with Black Hills High School.
Lee is accused of communicating with a 15-year-old girl wrestler for immoral purposes on Feb. 14 and of assaulting that same athlete during a wrestling practice on Feb. 17.
The Tumwater Police Department announced the arrest in a news release on Friday, March 13.
A police report from the Tumwater Police Department describes the investigation from the point of view of the school resource officer.
Two girls on the Black Hills High School girls wrestling team reportedly approached their head coach, Steve Kruger, on Feb. 17 to report that “something ‘weird’ was going on while a female athlete was practicing with a male volunteer coach,” the police report reads.
Kruger had looked into it at the time, but the athlete in question reportedly “said everything was fine.”
Two days later, on Feb. 19, the athlete reportedly went back to Kruger and said “she knew why he had asked and some other things had happened.”
Kruger immediately notified the district’s athletic director and the district’s human resources, who in turn notified the school resource office after completing an administrative investigation and determining “the actions by the coach were possibly criminal in nature,” according to the Tumwater Police Department.
The Tumwater School District formally suspended Lee from his coaching responsibilities at about 3:54 p.m. on Feb. 19, notifying him that he was not to attend practice, be on Tumwater School District property or contact any coaches or athletes with the Black Hills High School girls wrestling program.
The district also notified Clover Park School District, where Lee also works, of the allegations.
The Tumwater school resource officer launched an investigation on Feb. 25, which culminated in Lee’s arrest on March 5.
The victim reported that Lee, called “Coach Skip” by the student athletes, had filled in during practice while her partner was taking a break. Male coaches are prohibited from being “practice partners” with female wrestlers, according to information from the school district’s human resources director that’s cited in the police report.
While practicing specific skills in preparation for a state wrestling meet, Lee allegedly held the victim by her elbows in a way she could not escape, and said “I could bite your shoulder if I wanted to.”
He then allegedly bit her shoulder blade three times in succession. No marks were left behind, but the victim reported that “she was surprised and uncomfortable.”
The victim and a witness reported that Lee did multiple illegal wrestling moves while practicing with the victim, including interlocking his fingers while wrapping the victim in holds.
The victim and a witness both reported that Lee was visibly aroused while wrestling the victim.
Lee also allegedly repeatedly put her in a “very compromising position” called a “spladle” and repeatedly grabbed the victim’s buttocks and thighs while wrestling.
Lee is also accused of making "inappropriate comments” to the same athlete at a district wrestling tournament on Feb. 14. He allegedly spoke about pornography, talked sexually about other female athletes on the team and allegedly told the 15-year-old “if you were 2 or 3 years older, I’d do you too,” according to the police report.
The victim and witnesses told the school resource officer that they had wanted to report the Feb. 14 incident earlier, but the victim was “concerned about what Howard would do if she reported him.”
The school resource officer and a detective contacted Lee at his home on March 5 and took him to the Tumwater police station for an interview.
During the interview, he allegedly spoke unprompted about the boundaries coaches should have with student athletes and allegedly “stated that there have been many times when he crossed a professional line with the wrestlers,” according to a police report.
He then allegedly “began to speculate as to why he was suspended from coaching and being questioned by police,” referring to an unrelated incident with another athlete where he said he “put an athlete in a headlock and pretended to punch her.”
When told about the allegations and confronted with video evidence, he allegedly admitted to the inappropriate conversation topic on Feb. 14, saying it was “his way of ‘making friends’” and that the victim was “‘not his type’ because she was too small.”
He also allegedly admitted to biting the victim on Feb. 17, describing the bites as “playful,” and allegedly admitted to wrestling the victim while he was visibly aroused.
Lee allegedly “continued to apologize and talked about how sorry he was,” saying "several times that he needed help” and that “he was willing to do anything to make it right.”
Lee was a first-year volunteer coach for the Black Hills High School girls wrestling team at the time of the incident. He was also contracted as a paid assistant coach for the school’s football team for the 2025 season.
Lee chose to write an apology letter to those affected by his alleged actions.
“I realize I have crossed a line with the coacher/player relationship regarding conversations that we have had. My intentions were never to cross that line and for this I am very sorry to have done that. This is something that I do take very serious and will never happen again to you or anyone else. I only seek to help athletes be their best at the sport they are competing in and create a positive team environment. I will do better and get any help that I need. I apologize again and hope that this will turn into something positive for everyone involved,” Lee wrote in a handwritten letter addressed to the victim.
The letter was attached to the police report.
