A former Amarillo ISD assistant wrestling coach was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for sexually abusing a 17-year-old student.
Nicholas Jade Herrmann, 32, appeared June 23 before United States District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk for a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty in January to a count of enticement of a minor, which carries a punishment of 10 years to life in prison.
Herrmann, who has been in custody since his May 16, 2025, arrest, admitted to using his cell phone to entice or coerce a 17-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity with him.
His charge stems from an Amarillo ISD police investigation that began in January 2025 after Tascosa High School administrators learned from other students that Herrmann and a 17-year-old student were in a sexual relationship, according to court documents.
However, the girl denied the rumors and provided officers her phone which contained no messages between them.
Meanwhile, Herrmann lied to police about where his cell phone was and appeared to delete the messages between him and the girl before driving away.
However, the girl’s parents, who were told of the allegations, provided investigators with their daughter’s iPad, which contained the sexually explicit text messages Herrmann sent the girl.
Court documents state the girl initially began texting Herrmann in February 2024 with a wrestling question. The two continued messaging for almost a year, and the conversations became more personal, eventually becoming sexual.
In January 2025, Herrmann began sending the girl sexually explicit messages but told her that he wanted to wait until she became 18 and graduated.
However, Herrmann decided he didn’t want to wait and coerced the girl to sneak out of her house and go to his house where they would have sex.
During a second interview with police, the girl admitted to having sex with Herrmann three times between Jan. 25 and 26, the document states.
At sentencing, the girl’s mother told the court that Herrmann betrayed their trust to abuse their daughter and completely changed her life’s trajectory, according to a Department of Justice news release.
After serving his sentence, he will be placed on supervised release for 25 years and will have to register as a sex offender, court documents state.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Former Amarillo wrestling coach gets 18-year sentence for sexual abuse
Reporting by Gabriel Monte, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Gabriel Monte, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal | USA TODAY Network
