SANDUSKY, Ohio — Former Sandusky Schools football coach Nicanor Lopez is facing multiple felony charges related to child pornography, leaving parents frustrated and concerned about student safety.
A cyber tip led investigators to files on his devices.
The charge is pandering obscenity involving a minor, which can involve possessing or distributing juvenile pornography.
Lopez served as the sixth-grade football coach for one season and recently worked with the high school's quarterbacks. He remains in the Erie County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
Sandusky Police received a cyber tip in January from the International Crimes Against Children Task Force out of Cuyahoga County.
Lt. Chris Denny of the Sandusky Police Department explained how the investigation unfolded.
"They send us any type of related cyber tips that might involve Internet Crimes Against Children; each of those we get, we thoroughly investigate," Denny said.
Investigators traced the tip to Lopez's electronic devices.
"We ended up interviewing him, where not much was recalled, but we seized his cellular device. We did search warrants on it, analyzed it, and found files that contained evidence of the crime," Denny said.
According to the indictment, Lopez allegedly created, reproduced or published obscene material of children and used a cellphone to do so. The crimes are alleged to have occurred on or about July 1, 2025, through Feb. 20 of this year.
Denny said investigators found no evidence that school children were targeted.
"I can tell you that during our investigation, that there was no evidence that any school personnel or any children at the school were victims or involved in any way," Denny said.
School officials said they fired Lopez after Sandusky Police alerted them to the felony charge.
Sandusky City Schools released a statement to parents: "The safety and security of our students is our absolute priority. We expect all staff and coaches to adhere to the highest ethical standards, and we will not tolerate any behavior that compromises the well-being of our children."
Despite the school's response, parents say their trust has been shaken.
"It's scary, we had issues at Adventure Play with the owner, and now this, I don't know why we're not doing more to protect our kids," Jill Jaunzemis said.
Jaunzemis said the arrest has made it difficult to feel confident in those placed in positions of authority over children.
"It's absolutely disgusting," Jaunzemis said. "It's hard to think that maybe I can't trust whoever they bring in and that's scary".
Anyone with information related to the investigation is encouraged to contact Sandusky Police.
