Eagan High Coach Kurt Virgin Cleared on All Theft Counts

Former Eagan basketball boys’ basketball and soccer coach Kurt Virgin was cleared on six counts of theft by swindle, all felonies, when a Dakota County judge threw out those charges Friday, Dec. 20.

Virgin was charged after a months-long investigation conducted by the Dakota County Attorney's office in May of 2012.

The school district put Virgin on leave late in December of 2011, but a criminal complaint reveals that the well-known coach was under scrutiny a month earlier.

Last fall, school district officials allegedly discovered flyers for one of the camps left by Virgin on a school printer, investigators said. Some flyers requested that parents make payments for the camps directly to Virgin. Others asked parents to send payments to the high school.

Virgin did plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge that was separate from the fundraising incidents.

School district rules dictate that camps can be run in two different ways. Camp directors can run them separately from the district, in which case the director is responsible for fees associated with the camps. Camps can also be hosted by the district, in which case camp proceeds and expenses are solely the responsibility of the district.

After finding the flyers, district officials determined that Virgin was using both options simultaneously to operate his camps, police said. The scheme allowed Virgin to use school facilities for free, while keeping money from the checks made payable to him, police said. He also received a salary from the school district for his role as a camp manager.

Investigators say school officials met with Virgin last  school year to address the issue.

But the case was bungled, Virgin's attorney said, by the prosecution. 

Defense attorneys representing the teacher and coach said School District officials gave Virgin a Garrity warning before interviewing him in 2011 regarding his handling of sports program finances. A Garrity warning guarantees that information or self-incriminating statements obtained in an disciplinary interview will not be used against the subject in a criminal proceeding.

Despite the Garrity protections, attorney Paul Rogosheske said, prosecutors used the information obtained from Virgin during the hearing as the basis of their criminal case against him.

According to the complaint, Virgin was accused of taking $16,595.42 from registration fees and $12,589 from team fundraisers, for a total loss to the school district of $29,184.42.

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