Ex-Basketball Coach From Belleville Touched Player Sexually

BELLEVILLE, NJ — A Belleville man who coached girls youth basketball pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault after he touched a 12-year-old player’s “intimate body parts,” prosecutors announced Thursday.

According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Kevin L. Jimenez, 30, of Belleville, was a coach for the Amateur Athletics Union (AAU), a youth basketball league which held practices at the Abundant Life Academy in Nutley and Our Lady of Sorrows in South Orange.

Prosecutors stated:

“In entering his guilty plea, Jimenez admitted that while working as coach for a youth basketball team, he touched the then 12-year-old victim's intimate body parts for sexual gratification. At the time of the sexual assault, the victim was one of the players on the team.”

Jimenez accepted the state's plea offer, which calls for a sentence of eight years in New Jersey State Prison. Under the No Early Release Act, he must serve 85 percent of that sentence before becoming eligible for parole, prosecutors said.

After his release from prison, Jimenez will be subject to Megan’s Law registration and Parole Supervision for Life, prosecutors said. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 8.

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