Two coaches in scandal-plagued Prosper Independent School District are charged with failing to report a student’s claim that a fellow female athlete sexually assaulted three teammates at sleepovers during the summer.
Prosper High School’s head softball coach, Renna Bersosa, was arrested on August 25 and charged with failure to report child abuse, a misdemeanor. She was released from Collin County Jail on a $3,500 bond.
Assistant coach Kasie Ostrom was arrested on August 29 and was also charged with failure to report child abuse. She was released on a $1,500 bond.
According to a report by WFAA, the student told police that she and her mother met with Bersosa and Ostrom on August 7, two days before school started, and told the coaches that “three athletes were sexually abused and raped by another player.”
The student told police Bersosa said the accused attacker was “a good player” and “they didn’t want to lose her.” The student alleged Bersosa did not want to report the player because of her “athletic ability.”
She also said Bersosa advised her to handle the situation herself and tell the accused attacker to stop or she would report her assaults to the coach.
The student reportedly also disclosed the alleged assaults to her therapist, who then notified Child Protective Services and the police.
District officials sent a notice to Prosper High School families on August 25 saying that an arrest warrant had been issued for “former Prosper High School teacher Renna Bersosa for a misdemeanor failure to report alleged child abuse that occurred off school property this summer.”
The district said Bersosa was “immediately placed on administrative leave pending a criminal investigation” the prior week, once they were informed of the allegation. Ostrom was also placed on leave.
District officials haven’t said what happened to the player accused of sexual assault or her alleged victims.
Bersosa reportedly told police she didn’t know she had to report a third-party allegation. Ostrom said she thought Bersosa would follow up on the student’s accusations.
Educators are required by state law to report any suspected child abuse to authorities within 48 hours. The district’s notice to parents said employees undergo training “to ensure they know the proper steps to report such cases.”
That notice came on the anniversary of another Prosper ISD sex abuse scandal.
On August 25, 2022, Prosper parents learned that a district bus driver had been arrested and charged with sexually molesting two Rucker Elementary girls for most of a school year—information that Superintendent Holly Ferguson and other district officials had hushed up for months.
In that case, authorities were notified but families were not. Instead, parents whose children rode the accused molester’s bus learned about the sex abuse scandal and coverup through media reports about a lawsuit filed against the district and Ferguson that is still pending.
In another case involving the district’s softball coaches, the family of a former softball player at Prosper ISD’s Rock Hill High School initiated a federal civil rights lawsuit against the district earlier this year, accusing coaches and administrators of failing to accommodate the student’s learning disabilities.
