SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - School officials in Spokane have suspended Ferris High School football coach Jim Sharkey as they investigate claims he exposed himself to players at a leadership camp last summer.

Sharkey strongly denies the allegations. His suspension is with pay.

The Spokesman-Review says the camp was last August along the Coeur d'Alene River near Cataldo, Idaho.

A couple of weeks after the camp, a Ferris player came forward and said that the 50-year-old coach exposed himself to players while he was working the grill.

The coach got a written reprimand and was allowed to coach this past fall.

But school officials placed him on administrative leave Feb. 1 after more players claimed to have seen the incident and other students brought up separate incidents of questionable behavior by the 11-year teacher.

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