Former Visitation tennis coach accused of contacting his alleged victim

A former high school tennis coach charged earlier this month with sexually assaulting an underage student tricked the girl into following him on social media and then secretly met with her to facilitate ongoing communication, according to new charges filed Thursday.

Daniel Erik Hubbard Wilson, 27, of St. Paul, also tried to convince his 16-year-old victim to alter information she shared with police that led to the sexual assault charges, according to one count of violating a harassment restraining order filed in Ramsey County District Court.

Wilson had bailed out of jail after he was charged in early October in the sexual assault case. He met with his attorney Wednesday about the new charges, turned himself in that evening and appeared in court Thursday where bail was set at $25,000 despite a prosecutor's argument for $100,000 due to concerns about the victim's safety.

Jennifer Robbins, an attorney for the girl, said that she was disappointed with the bail.

"We're wondering when the courts will take sexual assault seriously," said Robbins, who attended Wilson's hearing.

Wilson's attorney, Eric Olson, had argued for $25,000 bail, noting that the state's request was "extremely high."

Wilson posted bail Thursday afternoon. In addition to the restraining order, no-contact orders were filed with each of the criminal cases against him.

According to the complaint filed Thursday: During an Oct. 22 interview with an investigator, the girl said that someone with a TV character's name contacted her on Twitter and asked her to follow the Twitter account. The girl obliged, and received a tweet directing her to a blog where she saw posts she believed were written by Wilson.

The charges filed earlier this month allege that Wilson had the girl at his home and sexually assaulted her multiple times over a year. Wilson coached her at Visitation School in Mendota Heights and also served as her private coach. Wilson was suspended and then resigned from his job as varsity coach at the school.

According to the complaint filed Thursday, the girl told police that she and Wilson wrote messages on the blog. She grew nervous, and said that she and Wilson started communicating via iPods.

On Oct. 10 or Oct. 11, the girl arranged to meet with Wilson near her home in North Oaks, the complaint said. The girl entered Wilson's vehicle and he gave her an iPod.

"After that, they communicated daily using the iPods," the complaint said. "They used the same e-mail account and communicated using the draft feature to read each other's messages without actually sending them."

The girl told police that she initially was willing to follow Wilson's instructions and that they brainstormed ways she could change her story.

"[The girl] admitted that she is still in love with Wilson, and does not want him to go to jail because she still wants to see him once he gets out, but she cannot lie for him," the complaint said.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708