Player's Father: Hidden Cam In Sapulpa Girls' Locker Room Is 'A Nightmare'

Sapulpa police now confirm that not only did the high school softball team use the facility, but also the club team Howard Harjo coached.

Monday, June 18th 2012, 10:54 pm

By: News On 6


Investigators say an assistant softball coach at Sapulpa High School may have even more victims.

Howard Harjo is being held on felony complaints after police say he admitted to videotaping girls in the restroom of the high school locker room.

Now parents from another team Harjo coached are talking.

In addition to the Sapulpa high school softball team, Howard Harjo also coached a club softball team called the Oklahoma Diamondbacks. The team is a competitive traveling squad for girls who have college potential.

News On 6 has learned many of those girls also used the restroom stalls of the Sapulpa locker room.

"My daughter has been in there multiple times along with several others," said the father of one of the Diamondbacks' players.

This father doesn't want to reveal his identity because he knows Harjo's family well and says he was fooled by Harjo.

"I could put Howard in a room with 100 other people I know and he would probably be the 100th that I picked out to do that sort of thing," he said. "That's how trusting everyone was of him."

Harjo is accused of secretly taping girls in the bathroom stalls inside the Sapulpa High School locker room, possibly as far back as his hire date in 2008.

6/15/2012 Related Story: Sapulpa Players, Parents Deal With Coach's Arrest For Hidden Camera

Sapulpa police now confirm that not only did the high school team use this facility, but also the club team Harjo coached.

This man's daughter played for Harjo on that team from 2008 to 2010.

"When we told her about it, she just.. the look on her face was just shock and she's very scared that she's on those videos along with a lot of her friends that she grew up with," he said.

Investigators say the tapes show girls nude from the waist down in the stalls.

The club team often used the locker room to change into practice clothes, use the restroom or try on new uniforms.

The players and their families say they spent nearly 9 months out of the year with Harjo.

"It's an absolute nightmare, because I'm afraid, what would happen if he wasn't in jail?" the dad said. "I mean just out of pure anger from somebody."

Harjo was not a teacher and was relieved of his coaching duties at Sapulpa High School immediately.

6/14/12 Related Story: Police: Sapulpa Coach Admits To Placing Cameras In Girls' Locker Room

He's in jail, but parents say their daughters are in their own prison wondering whether they're on the tapes.

Sapulpa police say they've identified some of the girls in the tapes, but identifying them all will take a very long time.

They won't go into detail about how they're carrying out that process.

Investigators have reached out to the OSBI for help.

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