QUEENS — A Jamaica basketball coach who prosecutors said coaxed teen boys he trained to send him nude photos, has been sentenced to up to 4 ½ years in prison, the Queens District Attorney’s office said Friday.
“The defendant took advantage of his trusted position as a basketball coach and violated the teen boys he instructed in a disgusting manner to satisfy his own sexual needs,” Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.
Robert Walker, 43, of Jamaica, who regularly conducted basketball training sessions with teenage boys, was sentenced to 1 ½ to 4 ½ years in prison Thursday, after he pleaded guilty in August to "disseminating indecent material to minors."
Walker, who according to the Queens District Attorney’s office was initially facing up to 15 years in prison, will also be required to register as a sex offender after his release from prison.
The coach was arrested last November, after a 15-year-old boy told his parents that Walker had a video chat with him last April on instant messaging application OoVoo.
During the chat, Walker told the teen to strip naked. He also convinced the boy to pose in front of the camera, expose himself and send him naked photographs, according to the Queens DA.
While searching Walker’s Oovoo and Facebook accounts, investigators found 27 images of children between the ages of 8 and 13 performing sex acts with men.
They also found three additional 14- and 15-year-old victims who played basketball on the team Walker coached. Those boys were also instructed to strip naked on video chats. One of the incidents, according to Queens DA, occurred in person.
Walker also told investigators that during workouts, he would have the boys take their clothes off to take pictures and videos of them, authorities said.
“The victims will undoubtedly be scarred for the rest of their lives as a result of this man’s manipulative actions,” Brown said.
Walker's attorney did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment.
