TOPEKA — A former assistant boys high school basketball coach in Topeka has admitted to posing as a teenage girl on social media to get explicit photos from other teens.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 41-year-old Jeffrey Pierce pleaded guilty Friday to one count of producing child pornography in exchange for the dismissal of 11 other federal charges he faced.

Pierce taught ninth-grade social studies at Seaman High School and was an assistant basketball coach. He was fired after he was arrested in September 2020.

He admitted through his plea that he asked nine 14-to 16-year-old boys for sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves while pretending to be a teenage girl on Snapchat, Instagram and other social media platforms.

Pierce threatened one victim, who had stopped sending him sexually explicit photos, with the possibility that his prior photos would “get out” if he didn’t resume sending, the agreement said.

It said that Pierce asked another victim to meet with “her” friend “Jeff” to engage in sex acts. The agreement didn’t say whether that subsequently happened.

His sentencing is set for April 27.