Price, UT (June 02, 2022) – On Tuesday, May 31st, Carbon High School’s former golf coach was charged with the sexual abuse of a teenage student-athlete over the course of several years.
54-year-old Kenneth George Otani, a resident of Helper, was charged in 7th District Court with forcible sodomy and object rape, both of which are first-degree felonies, as well as the second-degree felony of forcible sexual abuse.
According to a police booking affidavit, after a golf lesson at the Carbon County Golf Course driving range in July 2018, Otani asked a 16-year-old member of the team what she would do if he molested her.
The girl said Otani proceeded to sexually assault her, and that the abuse continued for the duration of his tenure as both her private golf tutor and the school’s golf coach, which ended in 2020. During that time, the girl and Otani texted each other more than 16,700 times.
Court documents state that the girl was assaulted at least 100 times over the course of her four years in high school. On certain occasions, she claimed she was instructed to meet Otani at his home for her private golf lessons, which took place in his bedroom.
In April, as noted in a probable cause statement, the girl confided in her mother regarding the purported abuse. The mother then took it upon herself to text Otani, informing him that she was now aware of the alleged situation.
Otani’s first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1st.
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