Indianapolis, IN – Harrison Goss, a 27-year-old former assistant track coach at Ben Davis High School and a well-known figure in the local athletic community, has been arrested.
He now faces eight counts of child seduction as a child care worker, a Level 5 felony in Indiana.
Goss, who graduated from Ben Davis in 2016 as a multi-sport standout and part of the Giants’ 2014 state football championship team, returned to his alma mater as a coach after earning a psychology degree with a concentration in addiction studies from Kentucky State University, an HBCU where he continued competing in football and track.
An investigation into an alleged inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old student-athlete has escalated in severity.
Court documents detail that Goss offered the girl rides home after track practice and, according to investigators, pressured her into sexual activity, including intercourse in the back seat of his car in the parking lot of a Wayne Township elementary school.
The case first came to light in early April when a 15-year-old friend of the 16-year-old spent the night at her house, saw sexually explicit text messages from Goss on the girl’s phone, recognized the number as belonging to the coach, and reported it to Ben Davis, dean of students, and Kim Carey.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department launched an immediate investigation, and Goss was arrested in June.
He was quickly terminated from both his assistant track coaching position at Ben Davis and his special education role at another district school, where he had most recently worked as a behavioral interventionist.
In July, a second alleged victim, a 2023 Ben Davis graduate, came forward after learning of the initial charges.
Now in her early 20s, she told detectives that her sexual relationship with Goss began in the fall of 2022 when she was a 17-year-old senior on the track team.
She described the relationship as initially consensual and said it continued after graduation, including two nights spent together at a Rockville Road hotel over Thanksgiving weekend 2022, until she moved to Texas in 2024.
After returning to Indianapolis this year and hearing about the case involving the younger student, she contacted police, telling investigators she now recognizes “a recurring pattern of manipulation” and believes Goss exploited her.
During a deposition with Goss’s attorney, Mark Nicholson, the graduate revealed that when she was 19, she confided in another Ben Davis coach about her past sexual relationship with Goss while the two were drinking together.
According to her statement, the coach never reported the disclosure.
The district says it has since placed that unnamed staff member on administrative leave pending investigation. No charges have been filed against the second coach at this time.
In a statement to 13News, the MSD of Wayne Township emphasized student safety as its top priority, confirmed Goss is no longer employed, and said it is fully cooperating with law enforcement. The district also encouraged any students with concerns to come forward.
Goss’s attorney, Mark Nicholson, told reporters,
“At this time, we’re reviewing the new allegations. My client was not aware of any claims involving [the other coach] until they were made during the deposition. As you know, the state has a burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, so my client is innocent until proven guilty. We have no further comment at this stage.”
Via wthr
Goss had been scheduled for trial on December 15, 2025, but court observers expect that date will be postponed as prosecutors continue to build their case.
The arrest of Harrison Goss has sent shockwaves through the tight-knit Ben Davis and Wayne Township community, where he was once celebrated as a homegrown success story who came back to mentor the next generation of Giants athletes.
Instead, authorities say, he allegedly used his position of trust to prey on the very students he was hired to guide.
