Former St. Charles Coach Gets Probation For Sex With High School Cheerleader

A cheerleading coach accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student was sentenced to probation Tuesday on a reduced charge.

Christopher Frum, who was coaching at Cheer Alliance in St. Charles when the incident occured, will serve two years under state supervision after pleading guilty to aggravated battery.

According to prosecutors, he pled to that lesser charge -- instead of criminal sexual assault -- because the woman in question, now 20, has persistently refused to cooperate with investigators.

"She at no point up to and including today has wanted us to pursue this case," Lake County State's Attorney Bodie Haxall told the Kane County Chronicle. "She believes even this sentence has been too significant."

According to the suburban Daily Herald, the 16-year-old student and 25-year-old coach met during a trip to a cheerleading camp in Myrtle Beach in early 2007. They developed a relationship shortly after, in which they had sex at least three times in Frum's house between March and May of that year.

The case went to authorities when the girl's parents discovered email exchanges between their daughter and her coach and contacted the police. It proved difficult to prosecute, though, because of her repeated insistence that Frum not be charged.

Frum himself has cooperated fully with authorities. He also worked with the FBI on a separate, 18-month federal investigation after his arrest, which may also have contributed to his lighter punishment.

Another factor was his entrance into sex offender counseling, at the end of which he was judged "highly unlikely to re-offend."

Frum, who now lives in Las Vegas, may be able to serve his probation in Nevada, if officials there consent.