NorthIowaToday.com

Founded in 2010

News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region

Conviction of Iowa high school coach who had sex with student thrown out

Iowa Supreme Court
Iowa Supreme Court

DES MOINES – Merely working as a coach – with no certification – is not enough to be convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor, the Iowa Supreme court ruled in dismissing a case against a former coach who was not licensed.

Last week, the Iowa Supreme court reversed the conviction of Patrick Nicoletto, who worked as a basketball coach in Davis county, Iowa, and entered into a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old player he was coaching, starting in 2007. The relationship lasted at least 2 years. Nicoletto, however, was not a teacher; he worked nights at a local pipe manufacturer and had signed contract with the school district to coach. The girl he had a relationship with would often sneak away from home and make up excuses to her parents about where she was or had been.

School administrators became aware of the relationship, and Nicoletto was convicted in district court of sexual exploitation by a school employee and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Nicoletto appealed, and the Supreme Court found that a licensed coach or teacher would be subject to prosecution, but not a contracted employee. The court sent his conviction back to district court, to be dismissed.

“We do not believe the ordinary meaning of the term ‘licensed professional’ includes a person who merely holds a coaching authorization under Iowa Code section 272.31 (2009),” the court majority found. “Persons holding coaching authorizations may be as young as eighteen, lack secondary education, have only a minimum of training, and often conduct their coaching as an avocation apart from their full- time jobs. Under the State’s interpretation, an eighteen-year-old who recently graduated from high school and who obtained a coaching authorization could be considered a licensed professional for being a paid assistant coach for a summer sport. We find this approach counterintuitive and doubt whether a part-time assistant coach would commonly be understood as a licensed professional.”

The dissenter countered, saying “Common definitions of ‘professional’ plainly include trained coaches paid to do their job. We use the word ‘professional’ to distinguish a paid employee from a volunteer or amateur.”

[poll random]

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

1 Comment
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Even more news:

Copyright 2024 – Internet Marketing Pros. of Iowa, Inc.
1
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x