Coach and teacher at Chicago high school accused of making sexually inappropriate comments
CHICAGO - A coach and teacher has been placed on leave from one of Chicago's top high schools.
Students have to work, test and fight to get into Whitney Young Magnet High School, a selective enrollment school on Chicago's West Side.
Once admitted, female students told FOX 32 off camera that they learned fast to avoid one teacher.
"It was just like, oh yeah, Geiger is a creep. It was like something you had to accept going here," one sophomore student said.
Robert Geiger, the PE teacher and cross country coach at Whitney Young, is suspended with pay. Four recent graduates told the Chicago Sun Times that Geiger made sexually inappropriate comments and touched them in ways that made them feel uncomfortable.
Geiger's attorney says there's no evidence of any formal complaint.
"There's no allegations of any concrete action, it's all speculation and unspecified allegations. He totally denies them and we're going to fight it tooth and nail," attorney Adam Sheppard said.
Geiger is the boys' cross country coach at Whitney Young, but coached the girls team for years. Students say former female runners complained multiple times about him.
The allegations swirled again with a recent explosive post on Instagram.
Geiger's estranged daughter, Sara, called him a serial sexual predator, saying Geiger abused her for years. She's demanding CPS remove him.
"Taking it public seemed like it was necessary. There was a facade he was keeping up and it just wasn't true," Sara told FOX 32. "Absolutely he should not be working with minors in any capacity."
In a statement, CPS says, "the district takes all allegations of wrongdoing and inappropriate behavior very seriously. Upon learning of the allegations, the employee was removed from their position and the Inspector General began an investigation."