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Sex Scandal Had No Effect, School's Soccer Players Say

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By MIKE WELLS and BILL WARD, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 2, 2008

LAKELAND - Despite allegations that a Newsome High School soccer coach had sex with a female student, members of the girls soccer team said they were not distracted from their game Friday night against Lakeland powerhouse George Jenkins High School.

"We're not only a team, we're a family," said Newsome senior forward Kellie Fowke, whose team lost 3-2 to Jenkins in the regional finals. "We kept our heads high."

Fowke said the accusations against former coach Ronald Lewis "didn't affect anything."

Lewis, 37, was pulled from a Newsome classroom Wednesday when the allegations arose, Hillsborough County School District spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said.

He resigned from the Lithia school Thursday afternoon, she said.

From February 2007 to November, Lewis had sex with a Newsome student at least seven times in his Jeep Wrangler, his home and other locations in the county, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The victim was 17 at the time.

Now 18, she identified Lewis as the man she had been having sex with, according to his arrest report.

Deputies said Lewis told a witness he and the girl had been having sex since February.

The witness was not identified.

Deputies arrived Thursday afternoon at his home, 1505 Crooked Stick Drive, Valrico. He was arrested that evening and posted $52,500 bail and left Orient Road Jail early Friday. No one answered the door at his home Friday morning.

Thomas Terrell, a special media teacher at Newsome, said the mood at the school was one of support.

"We are trying to focus on the girls' soccer game," Terrell said. "Coach Kelly Townsend has got the girls ready to go."

Townsend declined to comment after the game Friday.

Bob Rodriguez, the father of Newsome soccer player Rudi Rodriguez, said his daughter and her teammates were "completely focused" on the regional matchup against Jenkins and tried not to let the allegations against Lewis affect them.

"We just want to let the system handle it," Rodriguez said. "Eventually, we'll find out about all that."

Lewis left another coaching position on a sour note.

He apparently didn't want to coach what he thought would be a losing girls soccer team, said Steve Jarosz, president of the Brandon Area Youth Soccer League.

His disparaging comments about the team are why he lasted only six weeks as the coach of the Brandon Flames, Jarosz said.

"He lost interest in that team," Jarosz said. "A lot of the Newsome girls left for other leagues. It wasn't going to be as good a team as he wanted it to be."

According to the Brandon Flame's Web site, the victim played for the team when Lewis coached it.

Lewis stopped coaching the Flames in September but stayed with the league until December as a boys team coach. He ultimately was fired for poor team performance, Jarosz said.

Reporter Ray Reyes and Editor Howard Altman contributed to this report. Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

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