FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CBS12) — A former Fort Lauderdale tennis coach and grandson of an infamous tennis legend was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to coercing and enticing two minors into sexual activity.
Daniel James Riggs’ sentence was imposed Thursday. Court records state he worked as a tennis coach for Team Riggs at a Fort Lauderdale tennis center, where both minors were his students. The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports Riggs is the grandson of tennis superstar Bobby Riggs.
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Court records allege that from 2021 to 2024, Riggs used multiple social media accounts to communicate with victims and engage them in sexually explicit conversations. Law enforcement identified several of those accounts through subscriber and billing records.
A former Fort Lauderdale tennis coach was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to coercing and enticing two children to engage in sexual activity. Daniel James Riggs sentence was imposed on Thursday. Court records state Riggs worked as a tennis coach for Team Riggs at a Fort Lauderdale tennis center, where both of the minors were his students. (BSO)
“Children and parents trust coaches with more than athletic instruction. They trust them with safety, guidance, and character,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “This defendant abused that trust in the most disturbing way imaginable, using his position to groom and sexually exploit the very students he was supposed to mentor. Twenty years in federal prison reflects the seriousness of that betrayal.”
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According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Bobby Riggs, who died in 1995, was a tennis champion in the 1940s who famously challenged women’s tennis champion Billie Jean King to a “Battle of the Sexes,” insisting he could beat any woman in the sport. King won.