Retired Bay Area high school running coach charged with possessing child sexual abuse material

A youth coach who led Santa Rosa High School cross country and track teams for nearly three decades is facing shocking allegations that he possessed more than 1,000 computer files of child sexual abuse material.

Douglas Courtemarche, 78, is charged with one felony count of possessing child porn, according to a Jan. 16 criminal complaint filed by the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office. Courtemarche made his first court appearance on Jan. 22 and was granted pretrial release.

He’s scheduled to return to Sonoma County Superior Court on March 3 to enter a plea, records show.

“I don’t have any comment,” Courtemarche said by phone Monday afternoon to a Press Democrat reporter. His defense attorney, Evan Zelig, also declined to comment.

The allegations are likely to be a bombshell in North Bay’s running community and at Santa Rosa High School, where Courtemarche coached generations of athletes.

He retired as head coach in 2019 but retained a formal role with the cross country and track squads, making him a regular presence in recent years on campus, where the track was named in his honor.

A sign above the track that carried his name was taken down in January.

According to an arrest affidavit, Courtemarche was identified as a suspect last year during a Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office investigation into file sharing involving child sexual abuse material, or CSAM. Officials investigated an IP address that was linked to Courtemarche and a search warrant was served in July.

“An interview was conducted with Courtemarche and during interview, Courtemarche admitted to possessing and downloading CSAM from bit torrent,” California Highway Patrol Officer Rene Rojo wrote in the affidavit. “He identified the electronic device that would contain the CSAM. One device was collected and analyzed and over 1,000 files of CSAM were identified.”

Santa Rosa City Schools spokesperson Patrick Gannon said the district was first made aware of an investigation into Courtemarche in July. Because school was not in session and coaches are rehired each year, the district notified Courtemarche that he would not be brought back for the 2025-26 school year.

At the time, the district did not know the specifics of the investigation.

“It was very important for us to know whether or not … current or former students were involved at all in any way,” Gannon said. “We were told by law enforcement that (current or former students) were not involved in any way in the charges being brought forward.”

The district was notified of the charges brought against Courtemarche in mid-January, at the time the charges were made public. The track sign was taken down at that time, Gannon confirmed.

“We haven’t shared information yet, since there was no reason for concern of safety. This individual isn’t a current employee,” Gannon said.

But he added that the district has been in contact with the Santa Rosa High School Principal Kimberly Clissold and Carrie Joseph, the head cross country and track coach, to talk about how to address the situation if parents or students bring it up.

Danny Aldridge, a standout runner at Petaluma High whose long coaching career included five years as Courtemarche’s assistant at Santa Rosa in the 1990s, described the news as “hard to fathom,” in a texted reply.

“I’m dealing with deep sadness for Doug,” said Aldridge, who described him as a “pillar in the running community.”

Courtemarche took over Santa Rosa High’s track and cross country programs in 1992. He previously coached a youth team, Santa Rosa Express, and worked as an IRS field agent for 22 years.

Over his nearly three decades with Santa Rosa High, he became one of the region’s most accomplished coaches, with winning seasons in nearly all of his tenure and dozens of North Bay league titles. He coached dozens of athletes in the CIF state track and field meet, including national and state champion runners, high school and college record-holders.

In 2019, The Press Democrat honored him as one of its All-Empire coaches of the year.

According to minutes from his Jan. 22 court appearance, conditions of Courtemarche’s pretrial release include, but are not limited to, submitting to warrantless search and seizures, and getting permission from court officials to be in the presence of minors or leave Sonoma County.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com.

You can reach Staff Writer Adriana Gutierrez at adriana.gutierrez@pressdemocrat.com.

You can reach Staff Writer Austin Murphy at austin.murphy@pressdemocrat.com.