Youth hoops coach faces sex charges

OREGON CITY, Ore., Feb. 23 (UPI) -- An Oregon youth basketball coach who once admitted to impregnating a 15-year-old girl has been arrested on multiple sex charges, authorities say.

Howard Avery, 51, was being held Monday at the Clackamas County Jail in Oregon City, Ore., on $250,000 bail, accused of sodomy, sex abuse and unlawful sexual penetration, The Oregonian reported in Portland.

Authorities declined to release additional details about the case against Avery, who through the years has coached future NBA players such as Damon Stoudamire, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Fred Jones and future WNBA player Shaquala Williams.

The Oregonian reported in 2003 Avery engaged in a yearlong sexual relationship with a 15-year-old basketball player in the 1990s, got her pregnant and paid for an abortion. Avery also kissed another player when she was 17 and had sex with her when she was 19, the newspaper reported.