During a preliminary hearing Tuesday, police and investigators testified that a former high school basketball coach and a female member of his team exchanged more than 52,000 text messages during a period of alleged sexual abuse.
Joseph Alan Kikuchi was a coach at Mark Keppel High School when he allegedly began sexually abusing a girl who played on his team. The student was 15 or 16 at the time of the alleged abuse, which took place over a period of eight months according to the text messages.
Kikuchi is charged with 18 felony counts and five misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The text messages, along with police interviews with the alleged victim, painted a picture of abuse during which Kikuchi would take the girl to secluded areas and touch her sexually.
The messages revealed that the girl asked Kikuchi multiple times to stop the activity, but Kikuchi responded with threats.
One message read: “Don’t piss me off. If you do this, I will move up other girls,” according to deputy district attorney Rena Durrant.
The next court date in the case is set for Nov. 1.
