A former girls’ basketball coach at Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra was charged Thursday with two-dozen sex-related counts involving a female high school student.
Joseph Alan Kikuchi, 56, of Monterey Park, is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in an Alhambra courtroom on 13 felony counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, five counts of lewd act upon a child and one count of oral copulation of a person under 16, along with five misdemeanor counts of child molestation.
Kikuchi was the girls’ varsity basketball coach at the high school at the time of the alleged crimes, according to Deputy District Attorney Rena Durrant.
The criminal complaint alleges that the crimes occurred between February and September.
Alhambra police launched an investigation last month when an Alhambra Unified School District administrator was made aware of a rumor regarding an intimate relationship allegedly occurring between a female high school student and her adult basketball coach, Alhambra police Sgt. Jerry Johnson said shortly after Kikuchi’s Sept. 24 arrest.
Detectives learned Kikuchi had allegedly begun an inappropriate relationship with one of his players, Johnson said.
“The investigation showed that on numerous occasions over the last year there was unlawful sexual contact between the coach and the female player,” the police sergeant said.
Kikuchi — who resigned his position as a walk-on coach Sept. 15 — was released on bond the day of his arrest.
If convicted as charged, Kikuchi faces up to 20 years in state prison and lifetime sex offender registration, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
—City News Service