LANSING — The Holt High School boys basketball coach has been suspended after he was arrested for child sexually abusive activity and accosting a minor for immoral purposes.
In a letter to parents Friday, Holt Superintendent David Hornak said Muhammad El-Amin was placed on administrative leave immediately after the district learned of the charges against El-Amin.
“At this point,” Hornak wrote, “we do not have any information to believe this matter involved district students or occurred on district property.”
El-Amin, 36, was arraigned Friday in 54-A District Court on one count of child sexually abusive activity, two counts of computers-internet-communicating with another to commit a crime, and accosting children for immoral purposes — all felonies.
He was caught in one of several child sex stings conducted by members of “multiple Lansing-area law enforcement agencies” on Thursday and Friday, a Lansing police investigator testified in a court document that led to charges being issued against the Holt coach on Friday.
Police posted an ad on an online prostitution website that couldn’t be accessed accidentally, according to the investigator. A sender later identified as El-Amin responded to the ad on Thursday, requesting that a decoy posing as a 15-year-old girl perform a sex act on him, the investigator said.
He agreed to pay the decoy $50 and “a pack of White Claw alcoholic beverages for oral sex,” then arranged to meet the decoy at a business in the 5000 block of Dunckel Road, the document says.
Officers saw El-Amin arrive at the meet location at the agreed-upon time and arrested him, the investigator testified. The officers found $50 and a pack of White Claw.
In a news release on Friday evening, Lansing police said members of the department’s Special Operations unit, Eaton County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police arrested El-Amin at about 8:20 p.m. Thursday.
A magistrate set a $20,000 personal bond for El-Amin, with conditions that he has no unsupervised contact with minors and stay away from areas where minors might frequent, including schools and parks, court records indicate. Records indicate he applied for a court-appointed attorney.
El-Amin, who did not immediately respond to a phone message requesting comment, was hired to coach the Holt boys in May 2023.
He is a 2005 Holt graduate and helped the Rams win the Class A state championship in 2005. Following his graduation, he was an All-American at Lansing Community College before going on to Stony Brook. He was an American East player of the year and was an Associated Press honorable mention All-American in 2010.
El-Amin later played professionally overseas.
Hornak said the district will provide academic support and counseling to any students impacted by the situation. He also asked that anyone with information call OK2Say at 855-565-2729, the Holt Public Hotline at 517-699-STOP or his office.
A hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence for El-Amin to stand trial on the charges was tentatively set for May 24.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Holt boys basketball coach Muhammad El-Amin arrested, suspended
