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Former St. Pete High Track Coach Faces Sex Charge

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2008

Updated: 10/07/2008 03:43 pm

  Lee Fictum

ST. PETERSBURG - A former track coach at St. Petersburg High School was arrested Monday, accused of having a consensual sexual relationship with a 16-year-old female student and track team member, St. Petersburg police said.

Lee Edward Fictum, 32, of Pinellas Park, was charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor, jail records say. He was being held at the Pinellas County Jail on $250,000 bail.

Fictum developed a romantic relationship with the girl in the spring of 2007, according to court documents unsealed today. They spoke regularly by telephone, even when she vacationed in Europe, the court documents say.

Once track team practice began, Fictum would leave his regular job, pick up the girl, and the two would engage in a variety of sexual activities before practice, the documents say.

At one point, it was brought to the attention of the girl's father that the two were having an inappropriate relationship, but the father didn't believe it until he saw a Web site Fictum had set up for the track team called St. Pete runners, the documents say. On the Web site the father came across a private conversation between his daughter and Fictum that he found inappropriate, the documents say.

The father confronted his daughter, who acknowledged the sexual relationship, the documents say. Then he confronted Dictum and asked Dictum to accompany him to the police station "to sort this out quietly and 'man up,'" the documents say. Once Dictum got there however, he said he wanted an attorney, the documents say.

Pinellas schools spokeswoman Andrea Zahn said Fictum was a track coach for two years, the 2005-2006 school year and the 2006-2007 school year. He resigned Aug. 22, 2007, the same month he is accused of having sex with the girl.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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