Sheriff: Peotone Junior High coach sent ‘inappropriate’ texts

A girls basketball coach at a middle school in the far south suburbs is facing charges after inappropriate text messages with a teenage girl were discovered, according to police.

Samuel H. Burks, 48, was charged with two counts of child grooming, according to the Will County sheriff’s office.

A concerned mother reported on June 24 that “inappropriate” text messages were being sent to her 14-year-old daughter, according to the sheriffs’s office. The messages were sent over the past few months from Burks, girls basketball coach at Peotone Junior High School.

A search warrant was executed Friday at Burks’ home on Mallard Lane in Peotone, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to the sheriff’s office.

Burks was booked into the Will County Adult Detention Facility on Tuesday, and was released after posting 10 percent of a $100,000 bond.