Basketball Coach Charged With Molesting 4 Youths

BREA —  A popular basketball coach at Brea Junior High School was charged Thursday with molesting four youths at the school, and police continue to search for other possible victims.

Orange County prosecutors said Craig Lee Coleman, 34, performed lewd acts on three 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old on school grounds in 1997 and 1998. Coleman is accused of touching the youths, who were fully clothed, on the buttocks and genitals.

Coleman, through his attorney, adamantly denied the allegations Thursday. He faces up to 27 years in prison if convicted. He has been on a paid leave of absence from the school since the allegations surfaced in October.

The Brea-Olinda Unified School District still is trying to determine what happened and how to respond, said Pete Boothroyd, assistant superintendent. He said parents were not officially alerted about the allegations.

Coleman has taught physical education at the junior high since 1994, and worked as an assistant basketball coach at Brea-Olinda High School from 1992 to 1996. During that time, he also coached at local summer basketball camps.

Orange County prosecutors said the case unfolded Oct. 30, when Coleman allegedly touched a 14-year-old boy. The student immediately told the principal, Mike Condiff, who notified Brea police.

When detectives interviewed students at the school, three other boys accused Coleman of touching them “in a sexually provocative manner,” said Tori Richards, spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office.