A former Fort Lauderdale tennis coach was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to coercing two minors to engage in sexual activity, according to the Department of Justice.
“Children and parents trust coaches with more than athletic instruction. They trust them with safety, guidance, and character,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “This defendant abused that trust in the most disturbing way imaginable, using his position to groom and sexually exploit the very students he was supposed to mentor. Twenty years in federal prison reflects the seriousness of that betrayal. The Southern District of Florida will continue to pursue predators who target children and ensure they face the full weight of the law.”
According to court records, Daniel James Riggs, 33, worked as a tennis coach for Team Riggs at a tennis center in Fort Lauderdale, where the two minor victims were his students.
The DOJ said that Riggs used multiple social media accounts to communicate with the victims, engaging in sexually explicit conversations. Law enforcement identified the accounts used by Riggs through subscriber and billing records, even though they said Riggs tried to mask his identity by using anonymous accounts and telling the victims to delete their messages. They say that the messages began in 2021 and occurred through Riggs’ arrest in late 2024.
Riggs is the grandson of the late American tennis champion Bobby Riggs, a former world number one men’s player who won tennis championships such as Wimbledon and what is now known as the U.S. Open. He is also well known for his famous “Battle of the Sexes” match against fellow legend Billie Jean King in 1973. Bobby Riggs died in 1995.
