Former Perryton athletic director sentenced for having sex with a student

PERRYTON, Texas (KFDA) - Former Perryton athletic director Cole Underwood has been sentenced for having sex with a 15-year-old student.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Underwood was sentenced to 30 years in prison plus a lifetime of supervised release.

He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

Court documents state that Underwood first met the student when she was in middle school in Perryton.

Underwood admitted to having sex at least 10 times with the underage girl. He said they had sex in his office at Perryton High School after school hours.

Some of the evidence cited in court documents includes a cell phone call that lasted longer than six hours and communication by social media applications Snapchat, TikTok and Signal.

At the sentencing hearing, the student detailed how the situation escalated from Underwood acting as a confidant during a stressful period to isolating her and continually pressuring her for sex.

“I had no idea that he was slowly in the process of grooming me, I genuinely thought that he actually cared about me,” she said in a victim impact statement. “I didn’t know how to stop it... He convinced me to shut everyone out. I felt like I seriously had no one but him.”

“I hope if there is a girl out there who is going through what I have been through, she has the chance to hear my story to know it’s okay to speak up. There are people who want to help,” she added. “Just because you have one bad chapter does not mean your story is over.”

A civil lawsuit filed by the father of the girl against Perryton ISD and Underwood is pending.

Underwood was place on administrative leave from the school district in April 2024 and was arrested by the Ochiltree County Sheriff’s Office on April 25.