SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A former Salem youth basketball coach who pleaded guilty to raping a girl under the age of 16 has been sentenced to eight years and four months in prison.
The Statesman Journal reports 39-year-old Arthur Nigel Chavez was charged with five counts of first-degree rape and one count of first degree sodomy in December 2014. He pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree rape and was sentenced June 16.
Salem Police Lt. Dave Okada says Chavez had been an assistant coach for the Salem-Keizer Education Foundation’s basketball league. The foundation’s executive director says Chavez passed a criminal background check before volunteering with the league in 2012.
Court documents state that the abuse occurred between August and November of 2014. Chavez allegedly didn’t know the victim.