'The Truth Will Set You Free': Grooming Allegations Made Against Former Teacher, Soccer Coach

Shocking allegations came out at the State Board of Education meeting Thursday. 

A former Noble High School student, Casey Yochum, came forward saying he was groomed and sexually abused by his soccer coach, a former Noble High School teacher. That teacher's license was suspended at today's meeting. News 9 spoke exclusively with Yochum, who says he first made efforts to come forward in 2019. 

"I was nominated for bear of the month, and I had to talk about my time in Noble as a student-athlete," Yochum explained. "I had this filthy taste in my mouth about a soccer coach.” 

He says memories came flooding back. "I had repressed this for so long," he said. "I’d been molested by my soccer coach." 

The coach left Noble in 1997, moving to Wetumka where he taught until last year. 

Yochum claims he was targeted because he came from a broken home, and was groomed while on the soccer team. "He would gain that trust, then it would be he would start buying you things," he said. "It felt good to be loved by somebody again, especially a male figure." 

According to Yochum, his coach began to demand sexual favors in return. "He would find things that I liked and then say, 'Well, you know how you can pay this off, right?'" Yochum explained. 

He shared a 2020 recording he made, where he claims to confront his former coach. "You know you molested me, right?" Yochum said in the recording. "I apologize and you're right, it was not right," a second voice Yochum says is his former coach, responded. "I have to ask god for forgiveness because something isn't right. Something wasn't clicking right in my head." 

We reached out to the FBI, which could not confirm or deny any investigation. 

Noble Public Schools said none of their administrators were on staff in the early 90s, therefore they had no comment. Wetumka Public Schools and the Hughes County Sheriff did not respond. We called Yochum’s former coach’s current place of employment and left a message. 

Casey believes he may be one of many victims. The statute of limitations had passed for Casey since he was 46 years old when he went public with his allegations, so he turned to Facebook. 

"I took it upon myself to release the video and make it go public so that everyone could hear his voice," Yochum explained. 

He claims two new victims reached out. "The first thing out of their mouths was 'I didn't think anyone would ever believe me.'" Yochum said. 

Charges have not been filed against the former coach, nor has any agency confirmed an investigation at this time. 

The Department of Ed responded to the suspension of the man’s teaching license at Thursday's meeting. "There were some reports given to the agency that we dealt with in executive session and looked over,” State Superintendent Ryan Walters said when asked if Yochum’s public comment was the reason for suspending the teacher’s license. “Safety of our kids is always going to be a top priority for us." 

Following his public comments at the meeting, Casey hopes he set an example. 

"The truth will set you free. Don't hold anything in your heart and think no one will ever believe you," Yochum said.