Former Nittany Lion track athlete accused of soliciting nude photos was ‘not a coach,’ Penn State said
Steve Waithe — who was arrested and charged Wednesday with soliciting nude photos from female student-athletes — competed on Penn State’s track and field team from 2014-15, but was not in an official coaching position, according to a Penn State spokesperson.
Prosecutors said Waithe previously coached at Penn State, according to the Associated Press.
“He was not a coach at Penn State,” the university said in a statement sent to the Centre Daily Times. “He was in the role of a student coach as designated by the NCAA — this is a term for student-athletes who provide unpaid support to a program, which is common in college athletics.”
Waithe is accused of creating fake accounts on social media to reach out to athletes and offering to remove photos of them he claimed he found online. He allegedly used explicit photos he acquired of victims to get them to send more explicit photos so he could do a “reverse image search” to find them online. Waithe would also “regularly ask to use female athletes’ cellphones at practice and meets so that he could film their form,” according to the AP.
The 28-year-old was a coach at Northeastern University from October 2018 to February 2019, when he was fired by the university after an investigation into “inappropriate conduct toward female student-athletes.” He then took a position as an assistant track and field coach at Concordia University Chicago in September 2019, but was let go after less than four months, according to the AP.
The accusations began in “at least February 2020,” per the AP.
Waithe’s last season with the Nittany Lions was in 2015.
Penn State was just learning of the charges levied against the former student-athlete, according to the statement sent Wednesday night, and encouraged anyone with information to contact the FBI at https://forms.fbi.gov/seeking-victims-in-the-steve-waithe-investigation.
“We understand from the FBI that none of the current charges relate to incidents that occurred during this individual’s time as a Penn State student,” the statement sent to the CDT read. “Of course, we will cooperate fully as needed with the FBI investigation.”
