A Fort Lauderdale tennis coach, who’s the grandson of tennis legend Bobby Riggs, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for coercing students to engage in sexual activity, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Daniel James Riggs was arrested in December 2024 on charges of enticement of a minor and production of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian imposed the 240-month sentence on 33-year-old Riggs on Thursday.
“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. The Southern District of Florida will continue to pursue predators who target children and ensure they face the full weight of the law.”
Riggs is the grandson of Bobby Riggs, the former No. 1 men’s player in the world and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame who died in 1995.
Broward Sheriff’s OfficeBroward Sheriff’s Office
Daniel Riggs
According to court records, the allegations against Daniel Riggs surfaced in September 2024, when the alleged victim came forward. Riggs worked as a tennis coach for Team Riggs at a Fort Lauderdale tennis center, where both minor victims were his students.
The teen said Riggs became her coach in or around 2020, when she was 15, but their sexual relationship started around October 2021, an affidavit said.
Authorities said Riggs, while a tennis coach for the teen, engaged in sexual conversations with her through a social media app.
He is also alleged to have sexually abused the minor victim while they traveled internationally and domestically for tennis training and tournaments, including in South Florida.
Riggs also allegedly requested sexual photos or videos from the teen through social media, prosecutors said.
Riggs created multiple anonymous profiles and at times advised the minor victim to delete their communications to mask his identity, authorities said.