Amherst police have charged a Williamsville South High School coach with four misdemeanors, accusing him of forcible sexual contact on two occasions with a female high school student.
Sammy A. Hasan, 47, of Redwood Terrace, Amherst, has been charged with two counts of forcible touching and one count each of endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated harassment, according to police reports.
He's accused of having forcible sexual contact twice with a 17-year-old girl. One or both of the incidents may date back to when the girl was 16.
Hasan is not a teacher in the Williamsville school district, according to police and school officials. Employed by the district for nine years, he's been the girls' varsity track coach in addition to coaching some other sports.
In a recent Buffalo News sports story, a female athlete who won a sectional track title thanked Hasan for helping her with her technique.
Amherst police arrested Hasan today, following an investigation led by Detective Cindy Herberger of the department's Special Investigation Unit. That investigation followed a complaint from a family member.
Hasan also has been fired from his coaching job, Williamsville School Superintendent Howard S. Smith said this afternoon.
School officials, who worked closely with police in this case, asked the arresting officers to hand Hasan a letter informing him of his firing, so he doesn't return to the school campus.
"This is another situation that when the information became known to the police department, the school district was very cooperative," Assistant Police Chief Timothy Green said late this morning.
Earlier this week, in another incident, Amherst police said they concluded that no crime was committed after investigating a Williamsville Central Schools teacher for improper conduct toward a 17-year-old student.
The conduct in that incident did not meet the standards of a crime, police said.
"We determined the facts, discussed the situation with the district attorney's office, and it was determined that no criminal activity was involved," Green said at the time. "So, essentially, it's up to the school district to do what they feel is appropriate."
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