Sean Sakaida, the former Moanalua High School girls wrestling coach who built one of Oahu’s most dominant programs, was arrested by the FBI and charged with possession and receipt of child pornography. He is now in custody at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu, and federal investigators say they believe he primarily targeted female wrestlers who were minors over a span stretching from 2012 to 2026.
A Coaching Career Under New Scrutiny
Sakaida led the Moanalua High School girls wrestling program to four state titles and was named the 2025 National Wrestling Coaches Association Hawaii Coach of the Year, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. He started Moanalua girls wrestling’s run of five straight state titles in 2021 and presided over the first four of those championships himself. Moanalua placed him on leave in fall 2025 after he was accused of dating a player, the paper reports. Reggie Torres replaced him as coach and went on to win Moanalua’s fifth straight state title in March 2026.
The FBI Honolulu Field Office is now working to identify potential victims of Sakaida, per the same report. Agents say they are legally mandated to identify victims of the federal crimes they investigate, and they are asking anyone victimized by Sakaida — or anyone who knows a possible victim — to come forward. The bureau has requested that potential victims complete a form to provide information, and it says all victim identities will be kept confidential. Responses are voluntary but could be useful both to the investigation and to identifying additional victims, and those affected may be eligible for certain services, restitution, and rights under federal or state law. Investigators say they may follow up with victims for additional information.
A 2012 Complaint Resurfaces
This is not the first time Sakaida has faced allegations of misconduct involving a teenage wrestler. In 2012, while he was head coach of the Roosevelt High School wrestling team, a parent accused him of inappropriate contact with at least two female wrestlers through text messages sent as late as 3 a.m., and of kissing a 13-year-old female wrestler, according to a 2012 report from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Sakaida, then 30, was placed on leave after school officials told him a parent had made the allegation.
Sakaida denied the claims at the time, telling the paper, “That’s totally false.” He said he was flabbergasted and shocked when he learned of the allegation. Roosevelt’s Department of Education Civil Rights Compliance office opened an investigation into the complaint, while, as Hawaii News Now reported at the time, Honolulu police were not involved. School officials said they put Sakaida on leave pending the outcome of that investigation.
At the time of the 2012 allegations, Sakaida had spent seven years as Roosevelt’s head coach for both the boys and girls wrestling teams, and he had coached two girls who became state champions in the four years before the complaint surfaced.
Federal Charges Now on the Table
The current federal case against Sakaida centers on charges of possession and receipt of child pornography, offenses addressed under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A, the federal statute covering activities relating to material constituting or containing child pornography. The FBI’s belief that Sakaida primarily targeted minor female wrestlers spans a fourteen-year window, from 2012 through 2026, encompassing both his time at Roosevelt and his later tenure at Moanalua.
For now, Sakaida remains in federal custody in Honolulu as the FBI continues its search for additional victims tied to his decades-long coaching career.
