The grandson of tennis legend Bobby Riggs was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for sexually abusing two girls he was teaching while he worked as a coach in Florida.
Daniel James Riggs, 33, was handed a 240-month federal prison stint after he pleaded guilty to coercing and enticing two minors to engage in sexual activity, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced Tuesday.
Riggs, who worked as a coach for “Team Riggs” at a Fort Lauderdale tennis center, was following his grandfather’s esteemed career before his arrest.
The elder Riggs, best known for competing against Billie Jean King in the “Battle of the Sexes” match, was a three-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one.
He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1967 and died in 1995 at the age of 77.
Daniel Riggs is the son of Bobby Riggs’ eldest child, Larry.
The younger Riggs, who goes by Danny, had committed his disturbing abuse between 2021 and late 2024, after meeting the two girls at the tennis center.
He met his first victim, a 15-year-old girl, in 2020. Prosecutors identified the second victim as a 16-year-old girl through her social media accounts, WPLG reported.
Riggs had created multiple accounts on Snapchat to mask his identity while talking with his victims, engaging in “sexually explicit” conversations, the DOJ said.
During the time, Riggs sexually abused at least one of the unidentified girls during tournaments around the country and during international trips, including in the southern district of Florida.
Riggs had also requested his victims to send “child sexual abuse material (CSAM)” to him over social media, using one of his fake profiles.
Officials connected Riggs to the social media accounts through subscriber and billing records.
The tennis menace was arrested by the US Marshals Service on Dec. 17, 2024.
“Children and parents trust coaches with more than athletic instruction. They trust them with safety, guidance, and character,” said US Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said. “This defendant abused that trust in the most disturbing way imaginable, using his position to groom and sexually exploit the very students he was supposed to mentor.”
As part of his guilty plea, Riggs will have to register as a sex offender after his release from prison, WPLG reported.
He is currently listed as being held at the Paul Rein Detention Facility in Pompano, Florida.
It was not revealed which federal prison he will serve his 20-year sentence.
