Woman Testifies Against Her Former Powder Puff Football Coach in Statutory Rape Case

Former Dixon High girls football coach Troy Hensley was back in court Monday for an all-day preliminary hearing of the statutory rape case he is accused in.

After nearly five hours of testimony, Yolo County Judge Dave Rosenberg ruled to hold Hensley to answer on all 26 felony counts: 24-counts of sex with a minor, and two-counts of threats and dissuading a witness. An arraignment hearing was set for 8:30 a.m. Sept. 23.

The now 18-year-old alleged victim took the stand today, giving her explicit account of a sexual relationship she says began only months after her 17th birthday.

She testified that she came to know Hensley at Bud’s Pub and Grill, where she had been a hostess since she was a 16-year-old student at Dixon High School. Hensley, who is 20 years older than her, was her boss at the popular Dixon restaurant, she said, and later became her powder puff football coach at Dixon High School.

It was at the powder puff practices, back in October 2011, that the relationship began to develop, she told the court.

“He flirted with me, made comments on my appearances,” she said, “I liked it, I thought he was attractive.”

She said that soon after, they began texting each other daily.

“In November 2011, he texted me saying he can’t talk to me anymore because his feelings were changing and he didn’t want anyone to find out,” she stated, but that only a week later she received a text reading “I M*** You.”

Following that, the girl alleged the relationship continued to develop at work; they were scheduled to work shifts together, and she began staying late to work as a bar-back after dinner hours were over.

She admitted that she would drink at the bar with Hensley. She told the court about an incident on New Years Eve 2011, when the she “drank too much” and stayed the night at Hensley’s home.

Swearing to secrecy, the relationship evolved outside of work and into “sexual things” beginning in January 2012, three months after the alleged victim’s 17th birthday, she told the court.

“First we would meet in the softball park dugouts in Dixon,” however, she explained they moved meetings to Davis where, “he played basketball two-times a week, it was less risky to get caught.”

When asked why she would have a relationship with an older man whom she knew was married with five children, she explained, “He told me that he had other relationships [outside of the marriage] and I had heard he had been with a lot of younger women working there, so it wasn’t shocking.”

The woman, who Patch is not naming because she was a minor when the incidents took place, told the court about the emotions she felt, testifying, “We kissed, held hands — I was in love; I was nervous. He would give me alcohol to drink and Vicodin to take to loosen me up. He said he would leave his wife and we would be together and I would have his kids.”

Davis Police Department investigator Lt. Glenn Glasgow reviewed evidence gathered from a Davis hotel where the couple would allegedly meet. He said that hotel workers identified Hensley as the cash purchaser of 26, one-night hotel stays. Only seven of those dates were dates prior to the alleged victim’s 18th birthday, however, the victim states sexual activity occurred in public parks, on a school campus and at other hotels.

The woman stated that the relationship continued beyond her 18th birthday, while she continued working at Bud’s and while she and Hensley both attended Napa Community College.

“He was in a police academy... I had already planned to attend school there,” she explained, “We didn’t plan to go there together.”

The victim claimed Hensley’s wife found out about their relationship and called to confront her on Jan. 30, 2013.

“Within the hour of calling me, she showed up at my parent’s house,” she explained, “January 30th was my last day working for Bud’s.”

After that, she explained, "We were sitting on the hotel room couch, he looked me in the eyes and threatened that if I told any law enforcement, he would kill me, my family, his family and himself. He had made little threats like this before, but I believed him this time,” she stated, “I’d seen his gun — he had shown me the loaded gun he carried in his truck."

The relationship continued until April 2013 when police became involved.

According to the Davis Vanguard, Hensley's defense attorney made a motion arguing that all of the charged sexual contact had occurred within four months of her turning 18, and therefore it should be charged as a misdemeanor.  Judge Rosenberg denied the motion "for now," noting that while the defendant has no criminal record and has been gainfully employed, there is a 20-year age difference and it was an ongoing relationship.

Hensley was arrested on May 30, 2013 for eight felony counts of sex with a minor. An additional 18 counts were added at his first arraignment in June.