ST. FRANCIS, Minn. – A Minnesota JV girls’ soccer coach was fired from Independent School District 15 for wearing a clown mask and posing for a picture at school that was later circulated on social media.

St. Francis High School coach Ben Hildre told Fox 9 he was unaware of the creepy clown epidemic haunting schools and students across the country when he donned a clown mask for a Halloween celebration on the team’s last day of practice Wednesday.

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Hildre said his gorilla costume was unusable, so he opted to dress as a clown instead.

“I just drove by, waved, practiced and went and took a picture by that garbage can,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to make light of a bad situation and bad judgement on my part for being naïve.”

“It was nothing malicious,” Hildre told KARE.

Hildre’s players were aware of the clown craze and posted a picture of their coach wearing the clown mask to Twitter as a joke. They insisted the picture was posted in fun, and they did not allege a creepy clown sighting or intend to terrify the community.

Regardless, the picture circulated on social media and was brought to the attention of Superintendent Troy Ferguson by another student who was offended by the post.

“The student who made the initial report to the superintendent tells Fox 9 she was ‘appalled’ that an adult would wear a clown mask, in light of the reports of creepy clown sightings across the country,” according to the news site.

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“She says when she found out the person wearing the mask was the schools’ soccer coach, she reached out to the superintendent.”

Ferguson said he decided to suspend the unpaid volunteer coach from the rest of the soccer season, and prevent him from coaching girls basketball this fall, but did not rule out allowing him to come back in the future.

“We all make mistakes and this was a big one,” Ferguson said. “Kids are scared and it’s not okay for adults to be part of what to make kids scared.”

Ferguson said the incident occurred days after he received reports from area elementary and middle schools about students worried about the creepy clowns.

“And they’re very, very afraid of it,” he said.

Hildre’s suspension comes amid an epidemic of creepy clown related incidents across the country over the last month, some of which involved threats to students or schools online and others actual encounters with clowns near schools, playgrounds and wooded areas.

Dozens of schools in most states have issued warnings to students and parents about the situation, which has involved clowns attempting to lure children into the woods with candy or money, and clowns attacking students at school bus stops, EAGnews reports.

Administrators at numerous schools have imposed lockdowns or canceled classes as a result of purported creepy clown sightings or online threats. In several cases, local police arrested students for making terroristic threats to classmates and schools over social media.

In St. Francis, Hildre’s players attended a Monday night school board meeting to demand that board members reconsider the suspension, KARE reports.

“It was just so quick to fire someone who’s helped so many girls,” one teen told the board.

“I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I didn’t have Ben,” another said.

Hildre told Fox 9 he’s coached girls soccer for six years, two at the high school, to spend time with his daughter and empower young women, and he’s going to miss his players.

“Getting taken away from basketball coming up is like taking me away from my family,” Hildre said.

“It’s like this is my life and it just gets me here, you know?” he said, pointing to his heart.