A UNL professor and high school soccer coach arrested in Lincoln Wednesday faces 14 felony charges in connection with an investigation of alleged child abuse, false imprisonment and sexual assault dating back eight years.

The Lancaster County Sheriff's office is investigating incidents that allegedly took place at the home of 57-year-old Sanford Kaplan at 14647 Country Lane on several occasions beginning in 2000.

Two boys, ages 13 and 15, tell authorities that they were bound, blindfolded, gagged and suspended from the rafters of a detached garage. The actions were allegedly portrayed as a game and the juveniles were told to attempt to escape the bindings.

A search warrant was served on May 6th at the Country Lane address, off Highway 77 and Raymond Road north of Lincoln. Authorities seized items used in the bindings, a home computer and a camera. Kaplan was interviewed and is currently in protective custody.

An arrest affidavit obtained by Channel 6 News reveals Kaplan admits to sexual contact with 13, 14 and 15 year old boys, suspending them for 30-45 minutes at a time. He said he videotaped at least one incident.

Kaplan is a part-time professor of geology at UNL, boys soccer coach at Lincoln Northeast High School and a youth soccer coach for various organizations including the Capital Soccer Association. He has also been a host family for foreign exchange students through the ERDT/SHARE! High School Exchange Program.

Authorities say that they have identified at least five young men who have allegedly been victimized by Kaplan. Officials say there might be other boys who were involved, some of whom would now be as old as 23.

The sheriff's department says it needs to be emphasized that not all boys who went to Kaplan’s house were subjected to these activities, but investigators say they believe there are a number of victims that have not yet been identified.

Authorities say Kaplan has no prior criminal history. They say that background checks conducted by Lincoln Public Schools and other groups would not have found any information that would lead them to believe Sanford would subject the young people he has had contact with to this type of abuse.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 441-7725.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Web site identified Kaplan as a part-time professor. That was as of Wednesday morning. The content has since been removed from the site. Click here to view an image of the page prior to the content deletion.

A university spokeswoman said Wednesday afternoon that Kaplan is no longer employed by the university.

Kaplan was the head coach of the boys soccer team at Lincoln Northeast, having just completed his third season. School officials told Channel 6 News that his contract will not be renewed.

Kaplan was also a member of the Raymond, Nebraska volunteer fire department.

He was booked into jail on two counts of third-degree sexual assault of a child, six counts of false imprisonment and six counts of child abuse. All 14 charges are Class IIIA felonies, each punishable by a maximum of five years imprisonment and/or a $10,000 fine.