Ex-Shadow Hills High Coach Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Teen

INDIO (CNS) – A former Shadow Hills High School boys’ basketball coach pleaded guilty Monday to charges of sexually assaulting a teenage girl he coached four years ago.

Ryan Leron Towner, 36, was arrested June 10, 2021, and pleaded guilty Monday to felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old with force and unlawful intercourse with a minor, who was identified in court papers only as "Jane Doe."

Towner is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 4. He made his plea directly to the court, without an agreement on sentencing with prosecutors, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The judge indicated Towner could face two years, eight months in prison. He remains free on $55,000 bond pending sentencing.

Riverside County sheriff’s Investigator Joshua Reinbolz said authorities began investigating Towner in April 2021. He said Towner coached the victim on a travel basketball team.

Towner also coached the Shadow Hills boys’ basketball team from 2018 through most of the 2021 season. He did not coach the team for its final 10 games and was fired by the Indio school a few days before his arrest, the Desert Sun reported.

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CNS-06-13-2022 11:53