Former Fort Lauderdale Tennis Coach Sentenced to 20 Years for Coercing Students to Engage in Sexual Activity

MIAMI - A former Fort Lauderdale tennis coach has been sentenced to 240 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to coercing and enticing two minors to engage in sexual activity.

U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian imposed the sentence on Daniel James Riggs, 33, 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."

According to court records, Riggs worked as a tennis coach for Team Riggs at a Fort Lauderdale tennis center, where both minor victims were his students. Riggs used multiple social media accounts to communicate with the victims and engage them in sexually explicit conversations. Law enforcement identified several social media accounts used by Riggs through subscriber and billing records. The offense conduct occurred from approximately 2021 through Riggs' arrest in late 2024.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

FBI Miami investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Smith prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit https://www.justice.gov/pscLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link., under case number 25-cr-60038.

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