Former coach seduced girl, records say
Former high school assistant volleyball coach Darin Yoshinaka appeared in Honolulu District Court yesterday on charges that he had sex with a 13-year-old girl.
Under Hawaii statutes, it is unlawful to have sex with anyone under 14.
Yoshinaka, 28, of Makiki, is charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault and five counts of third-degree sexual assault. He is scheduled to return to court Feb. 6 for a preliminary hearing. He remains free on $50,000 bond.
According to court documents, the girl told police she met Yoshinaka last October, after the school's varsity girls volleyball season ended. The girl was a member of the school's middle school volleyball team. She said Yoshinaka, whom she knew as "Coach Darin," began helping out with the team.
The girl said she began communicating with Yoshinaka by text messages and cellular telephone conversations and through instant messages over the Internet.
During an Internet conversation with Yoshinaka on Nov. 3, she informed him she was at home alone. She said Yoshinaka logged off his computer and then called her on her cellular telephone asking for directions to her residence, according to the court documents.
She told police Yoshinaka arrived at her home, had sex with her and had her promise not to tell anyone or he would lose his job and get arrested.
The girl said Yoshinaka had also volunteered to tutor her in math and met her at Manoa Library on Jan. 2. She told police she and Yoshinaka left the library together and went to a staircase at Manoa Elementary School, where he kissed her.
The girl said she got up, walked away and, on the way home, called her mother to tell her what happened.
School officials confirmed Yoshinaka was an assistant volleyball coach for the girls varsity team for the 2007 season, but he has not been under contract with the school since the season ended in mid-October.
