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Jamaica basketball coached sentenced for child porn: DA

By Madina Toure

A Jamaica man who claimed to be a basketball coach and regularly conducted workouts with teenage boys was sentenced to up to four-and-a-half years of prison for having boys send him nude photos, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

The man, Robert Walker, 43, pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to disseminating indecent material to minors, Brown said.

Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Stephanie Zaro sentenced Walker Thursday to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison. Walker will be required to register as a sex offender when he is released.

“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,” Brown said in a statement. “The victims will undoubtedly be scarred for the rest of their lives as a result of this man’s manipulative actions.”

On April 22, 2014, Walker chatted with a 15-year-old boy using ooVoo, a video chat and instant messaging software and told him to strip naked and pose during a video link and send him the photos, Brown said.

A forensic examination of Walker’s electronic devices revealed 27 additional images of children between the ages of 8 and 13 performing sex acts with adult men, he said.

After he was arrested, Walker admitted that he conducted workouts with teens under the age of 16, told them to remove their clothes during the sessions and toke pictures and videos of them, Brown added.

Three additional victims were discovered after search warrants were done on Walker’s ooVoo and Facebook account, according to Brown.

The three children, 14- and 15-year-olds, played basketball on his team and were manipulated into stripping naked and exposing their genitals during video chats on ooVoo and in person on one occasion, Brown said.

Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtoure@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4566.