Fort Lauderdale tennis instructor Daniel Riggs pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to federal charges accusing him of engaging in a sexual relationship with two minor females he coached, his lawyer confirmed.
Riggs, 32, the grandson of former professional tennis star Bobby Riggs, will be sentenced in late January. The range of possible sentences is anywhere from 10 years on each count to life.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Justice Department initiative designed to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
“He admits that he knowingly persuaded minor 1 and minor 2 to engage in sexual activity, (and) that he used a computer to do so,” according to the factual outline agreed read in court and agreed to by the defense and prosecution.
Team Riggs remains in operation without Daniel Riggs’ involvement.
Riggs was arrested on Dec. 17, 2024, by FBI agents at the Lauderdale Tennis Club in Fort Lauderdale. Numerous armed FBI agents showed up at the tennis club at 600 Tennis Club Drive, where Riggs worked as a coach. They took him into custody while children and coaches were on the court.
The incidents between Riggs and the victims took place between 2020 and 2024, and included the use of the social media app Snapchat. According to saved messages on the app, Riggs exchanged salacious and sexually explicit conversations, according to court documents.
The relationship with the first victim became physical in 2022 during a team trip to Brazil, according to court documents.
In a since-withdrawn motion to dismiss the charges, defense lawyer Russell Williams said the government did not have the photographs allegedly sent by the first victim, and without the photographs it is impossible to tell whether those images violated the law.
“He admitted guilt because he didn’t want to put the victims through any additional or unnecessary hardship,” Williams told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Monday.
Riggs will be forced to register as a sex offender and, in the event of his release, will not be permitted to offer tennis lessons to minors.
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.