A volunteer boxing coach at the Yakima Police Athletic League is in hot water for allegedly sending sexually explicit text messages to a 17-year-old girl he met through the program.
Miguel Ernesto Osuna, 44, will be charged with communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, Yakima County deputy prosecutor David Soukup said Friday.
According to an arrest affidavit filed by police, Osuna is accused of sending the teenager numerous text messages Monday that became increasingly personal in nature and then sexually explicit.
Osuna was arrested Wednesday and held overnight in the Yakima County jail before a judge on Thursday ordered him held on $15,000 bail. He has since posted bond was released from custody pending arraignment May 17.
Yakima police Capt. Rod Light said Osuna is now barred from YPAL, where he had volunteered for about three years. He passed a background check required to volunteer.
In addition to being a volunteer boxing coach, Osuna is employed as a substitute teacher's aide at Davis High School. School officials said they became aware of the case Thursday and that Osuna would not be allowed to work while it's pending.
"We're waiting for the police to do their investigation," said Steve Cole, assistant superintendent for human resources. "We'll act carefully moving forward."
The girl in the case is not a Yakima School District student, nor had she had been active in the boxing program at YPAL for several months, he said.
It is not the first issue with a boxing coach at YPAL. In 2005, a coach was charged with first-degree sexual misconduct for having sex with a 16-year-old girl he met through the program.
He was acquitted by a jury at trial, however, after his attorney argued the sexual encounter was legal because it was consensual.
The 2005 incident exposed shortcomings in YPAL's background checks on volunteers. The defendant in that case had previously been convicted of a misdemeanor assault arising from a more serious charge of child molestation.
The police department, which operates YPAL, tightened screening procedures as a result.
YPAL is part of a national gang-prevention program that began a chapter in Yakima in 2003. The main facility is located at 602 N. Fourth St.
In addition to boxing, the YPAL sponsors sports such as soccer, wrestling, plus activities such as Manners Matter classes, family movie nights and an after-school program.
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