A now-former Klein Independent School District coach was charged with sexually abusing an underage female student when he worked at Tomball ISD.
Nicholas Alan “Nick” Codutti, 43, was arrested Saturday and charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact and sexual performance by a child. Both offenses are second-degree felonies punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.
Codutti was Klein High School’s athletic coordinator but had been on paid administrative leave since the allegations became known in May.
When the district learned of the criminal charges against Codutti, his employment was terminated, according to a statement released Saturday by Klein High School Principal Shannon Strole and Klein ISD Chief of Police Marlon Runnels.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced Saturday that after an “extensive investigation,” the Crimes Against Children Unit filed charges against Codutti relating to his alleged sexual abuse of a minor Tomball High School student that occurred in 2018 and 2019.
Codutti was a teacher and coach at Tomball High School from 2017 to 2021.
The 24-year-old former student recently revealed Codutti’s alleged longstanding sexual abuse to a therapist, who reported the allegations to Child Protective Services as required by law. HCSO began investigating and Klein ISD placed Codutti on leave.
Gonzalez said detectives developed information alleging that the abuse began when the survivor was a minor and continued for several years.
A probable cause affidavit states that Codutti, who was the then-student’s strength and conditioning coach, began following her on social media in 2018, and the two began to exchange “sexual images” and videos.
The former student told investigators Codutti had sexual intercourse with her more than 10 times, including in the Tomball High School weight room. She described the sex as “consensual,” even though she was 16 when the encounters began. The legal age of consent in Texas is 17.
The girl graduated in 2020, but she said the sexual encounters continued until September 2025. Codutti allegedly told the girl he would divorce his wife and they could acknowledge their relationship “one or two years after her high school graduation.”
The accuser’s therapist told investigators the former student described multiple specific sexual encounters that occurred during and after school hours, on campus in the weight room and office, at a local gym and coffee shops, and at Codutti’s home.
She said they had oral sex weekly before Codutti first had intercourse with her in 2019, when she was 16, at his home during lunch hour on a school day. She alleged she would later stay overnight at his home when his wife was gone, and she also babysat for his children.
When asked during a forensic interview how many times Codutti had sex with her, she told the nurse examiner “more than I can count.”
Investigators asked if anyone from her high school knew about Codutti’s sexual abuse. She said “there were rumors” but could not confirm specifics.
The accuser said she first revealed the sexual relationship to her mother, when she was an adult, but told her not to report it. Her mother told investigators Codutti had allegedly instructed her daughter not to tell anyone because it was a felony.
According to the affidavit, the accuser told her therapist that Codutti would threaten her when she wanted to end the encounters, and she was “afraid the teacher would harm her.”
Sheriff Gonzalez said members of the HCSO Violent Criminal Apprehension Team arrested Codutti, assisted by District 1 Patrol deputies.
Codutti was booked into the Harris County Jail on September 26 and released the next day on bonds of $50,000 for each charge.
Gonzalez said the investigation remains ongoing and encouraged anyone with information to contact the HCSO Crimes Against Children Unit at 713-830-3250.
Codutti was first certified to teach physical education and social studies in 2015. His certifications have been inactive since June 2026 and are under review by the Texas Education Agency.
The state’s Do Not Hire Registry also lists Codutti as “under investigation.”
Codutti worked in Beaumont ISD for two years prior to teaching in Tomball ISD. After leaving Tomball, Codutti was head coach at Fulshear High School in Lamar CISD. He joined Klein ISD in January 2025.
District officials from Tomball and Lamar stated in May that they had received no misconduct reports about Codutti.
Codutti was named to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football 40 Under 40 in 2021.
Over the past few years, a growing number of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes against students and other children, and thousands have been reported to the TEA for sexual misconduct.
The TEA’s Educator Misconduct Reporting Dashboard shows the agency is currently investigating more than 3,000 sexual misconduct complaints and opening an average of 250 new cases each month.
