Charge dismissed against ex-Idaho coach accused of violating no contact order
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- Canyon County dismissed a no-contact charge against ex-coach Kip Crofts.
- Prosecutors cited Idaho precedent requiring actual contact, not proximity.
- Crofts still faces a felony trial for alleged sexual abuse scheduled Nov. 18.
The Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office moved to dismiss a misdemeanor charge of violating a no-contact order against the former head coach of Caldwell High School’s football team.
Kip Crofts, 59, was indicted in June for allegedly masturbating in front of a 14-year-old last year, according to an indictment filed by the Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He was charged with one felony count of sexual abuse of a minor under 16 years old, and could face up to 25 years in prison and a $50,000 fine if he’s convicted.
Crofts took over the high school football team in February 2023 and left the program earlier this year. He also served as a head coach at Payette and Meridian high schools and worked as an assistant coach at Bishop Kelly High School in Boise.
In late July, Crofts was arrested at his home after the Meridian Police Department received a tip about a possible no-contact order violation, which stipulates he can’t have any contact with children. After arriving at the home, an officer discovered that Crofts’ wife was running a day care and snow cone business out of their home, according to court records. There were also two girls outside of the home at the time of Crofts’ arrest.
The charge was dismissed after Crofts’ private defense attorney, Alex Briggs, at a hearing pointed to the Idaho Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling in State v. Herren, which concluded that it’s only considered a violation of a no-contact order if there’s some kind of contact with the other party.
“There’s no alleged contact here,” Briggs said in court. “It’s not a crime unless you have contact.”
While Crofts was near children, the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office told the Idaho Statesman that they didn’t have evidence of “actual contact,” and proximity alone wouldn’t be considered a violation under the law. Prosecutors wouldn’t have been able to prove that Crofts had any interaction with the children on his property.
“This outcome underscores the need to address a statutory loophole that limits prosecution of certain no-contact order violations,” the Prosecutor’s Office said in its statement.
Briggs argued at the July 31 hearing that his client was “unlawfully charged.”
He pointed to a statement made in court by the children’s mother, who said she’d come over to the house “on her own accord” for snow cones and to speak to Crofts’ wife. They stood outside on the porch for the entirety of her visit, she said.
“We were unaware of the presence of Mr. Crofts in the house. We were not invited in, and Mr. Crofts never made his presence known,” the woman said in court. “We had zero contact with him, and I have no reason to believe he was even aware of our presence.”
Despite the friend’s statement, 3rd Judicial District Magistrate Judge J.R. Schiller concluded there was probable cause Crofts violated his no-contact order at the July hearing. He set Crofts’ bond at $5,000.
At the next hearing in September, Canyon County Deputy Prosecutor Christopher Wilcox admitted that the facts surrounding the state Supreme Court’s ruling would make his office unable to meet its burden of proof at trial. But he said he still believed there was probable cause to charge Crofts with the no-contact order.
“With that, the state moves to dismiss this charge,” Wilcox added.
The Prosecutor’s Office in its statement said it’ll continue to “vigorously” pursue the felony case against Crofts “to the fullest extent of the law,” and that prosecutors filed a motion to revoke Crofts’ bail in the felony case.
Crofts still faces a trial for the felony charge, to which he pleaded not guilty. That jury trial is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 18 at the Canyon County Courthouse, court records showed.
