Basketball coach preyed on 12-year-old while coaching girls team: prosecutor

A coach of a regional girls basketball team is facing sexual assault charges after prosecutors say he preyed on a 12-year-old girl in Nutley earlier this year.

In a statement, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said Kevin Jimenez, a former coach at Good Shepherd Academy in Nutley, was affiliated with an Amateur Athletics Union (AAU) team called The Wolves at the time of the assault.

Prosecutors said the team includes girls from throughout the region and has practiced at Abundant Life Academy in Nutley and at Our Lady of Sorrows in South Orange.

Authorities did not say if the victim was on the team, and provided no other details of the alleged crime.

Jimenez has been charged with three counts each of aggravated sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Efforts to contact the team’s leadership for comment were not immediately successful Thursday afternoon. It was unclear whether Jimenez, 29, of Bellville, had retained an attorney who could comment on the charges.

Records show Jimenez remains jailed at the Essex County Correctional Facility. He’s next scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Newark on June 15.

The prosecutor’s office has asked that anyone with information about the case contact Capt. Janine Straccamore of the Special Victims Unit at 973-753-1131.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty.

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