Former Broomfield Softball Coach Sentenced In Sex Assault Case

BRIGHTON, CO – A former coach for Broomfield youth softball was sentenced Thursday to five years in community corrections after being convicted of sexually molesting a female player, age 15, whom he coached on the Thunder softball team.

Jason Lee Davis, 43, was convicted of negligent child abuse and attempted sexual assault on a child, according to a statement from the Adams County District Attorney's Office.

Davis was accused of sexually assaulting the girl at the Margaret Carpenter Recreation Center in Thornton on April 2, 2017. Davis picked her up from her family home, took her to Target to buy a swimsuit and then, "took her to the recreation center where he lured her into a shower in a family changing room and assaulted her," the DA's office said.

Davis had groomed the girl who "trusted him as a mentor in her life," Deputy District Attorney Sarah Stout told the court. He then texted her, apologized and continued to "rely on the relationship he had built up to manipulate her into remaining silent," the DA's statement said.

Davis apologized to the girl's family in court, according to the Broomfield Enterprise.

"I can't imagine the things they've gone through because of this," Davis reportedly said. "I want them to know I'm very apologetic. I don't know who that person was that day. That's not me."

The Enterprise reported that the family had moved away to " protect her daughter from media attention and her fellow peers that might have known her through the softball community." Family members told the court the girl had lost her confidence and had given up playing softball elsewhere, crippled by embarrassment and "unfounded guilt," the mother told the court.

Davis is married and is father of two daughters, whose softball team he coached. He lost his job at Comcast after the allegations surfaced, the Enterprise reported.

Adams County District Judge Mark Warner did not buy Davis's defense that his actions were "drug-fueled" by cocaine he had allegedly taken earlier in the day.

Warner remarked that blaming drugs for Davis's behavior was "a little hard to swallow completely," Enterprise reporter Jennifer Rios wrote. Davis showed intent by texting and setting up a meeting with the girl after the event.
"I've seen many alcohol and drug-fueled offenses, but very few like this," Warner said.

Read the Broomfield Enterprise reporting from the courtroom here.

Image via Broomfield Police