Ruling Strikes Down Lengthy Sentence for Coach

The Seattle Times ^ | 8/17/04 | Maureen O'Hagen

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A basketball coach who admitted molesting one of his players could be out of prison by the end of this month under a state Court of Appeals decision released yesterday. Tony Giles, who coached girls basketball in the area for more than a decade, had been sentenced last August to nearly three-and-a-half years in prison, twice what prosecutors had requested.

At sentencing, Judge Harry J. McCarthy said the lengthy, or "exceptional," sentence was justified because "It is clear that he groomed them for his own sexual desires ... and basically preyed upon [the victim] to satisfy his sexual appetite."

But the appeals court decided that the judge had no legal basis for imposing the stiff punishment and ruled that Giles should go back to court for resentencing.

Coach Tony Giles

One of his lawyers, David B. Koch, said the new sentence most likely will be 20 months. Giles has served a year, and with time off for good behavior, he could be released by the end of the month.

"There is no way Mr. Giles could get an exceptional sentence again," Koch said.

Giles was profiled in "Coaches who prey," a four-part Seattle Times series exploring the widespread problem of coaches molesting female athletes. Three victims told Times reporters they had been molested by Giles beginning when they were in their early- to mid-teens, but only one case was within the statute of limitations.

Giles coached a team called Players Only that was geared toward elite athletes trying to win college scholarships. His coaching skills were admired around the region, and many of his players went on to Division 1 colleges, but he had been dogged by stories that he molested players.

There was documented evidence of some of these complaints.

In 1992, for example, he lost a coaching position at Holy Family Catholic School after a group of eighth-graders told police that he had made advances toward them, including French-kissing one girl and licking another girl's thigh.

In 1989, he was convicted of telephone harassment after churches, schools and social-service organizations began reporting a pattern of disgusting calls from an anonymous man who fantasized about raping teenage girls.

Despite that history, Giles managed to put together a team year after year, charging players up to $600 a month to participate.

Prosecutors did not contest Giles' appeal, conceding that the judge had erred in his reasoning behind the lengthy sentence.

Maureen O'Hagan: 206-464-2562 or mohagan@seattletimes.com

Link to article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002007233_giles17m.html

[ppaul]

Another victory for Title VIX!
What is amazing is that parents, fathers especially, let their daughters be "coached" by men (I mean, just look at this guy. What dad would let him go into the locker room with a bunch of pubescent girls?) The parents and the school administrators who let grown men "coach" girls like this should be locked up.

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Prosecutors did not contest Giles' appeal, conceding that the judge had erred in his reasoning behind the lengthy sentence.

Yeah. The judge should have sentenced him to three consecutive life terms.

[newgeezer]

Incredible.

[susiek]

"What is amazing is that parents, fathers
especially, let their daughters be "coached"
by men (I mean, just look at this guy. What
dad would let him go into the locker room
with a bunch of pubescent girls?) The parents
and the school administrators who let grown
men "coach" girls like this should be locked up."

Although parents should be vigilant and pay attention to the type of relationship their daughter has with a male coach, I disagree with your gross generalizations about male coaches in women's sports. I played volleyball and basketball all the way through high school and college. I had some male coaches and some female coaches. The men were always models of professionalism and never did anything untoward. In fact, my favorite coaches, the ones I still keep in touch with, were all men. Unlike most of the female coaches I had, the male coaches managed to blend the toughness and discipline needed in a coach with kindness and compassion. Maybe the female coaches were worried about being branded weaker than their male counterparts, but they were always much more hateful in their toughness than the males.

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I disagree with your gross generalizations about male coaches in women's sports.

Gross?
I'd call it common sense.

[susiek]

You have an interesting definition of common sense. It's not common sense to assume that every man who gets near a young female is going to harm her. It's not common sense to assume that all male coaches are bad people.

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ping

[ppaul]

It's not common sense to assume that every man who gets near a young female is going to harm her.

You are so naive.
Any school administrator, or father, who would allow a grown man to hang around in the lockerroom of their pubescent girls/daughters, is a fool.
When I was growing up, if a guy was in the lockerroom around the girls, they'd have to carry him out on a stretcher.
Too bad that didn't hapen to this "coach" years ago.

[ppaul]

ping