Basketball coach charged with grooming teenage girls

A basketball coach has been charged over the alleged grooming of teenage players.

The 21-year-old was arrested yesterday after an investigation was launched this month into complaints from several girls – aged between 14 and 16 – who claim they were groomed by a man known to them in Wollongong, south of Sydney.

Electronic items were seized from a home in Wollongong during a raid and the man was arrested after forensic examination was carried out.

The man has been charged with grooming a child between 14 and 16 for unlawful sexual activity and incite aggravated indecency with a victim under 16 and under authority of offender.

Police will allege he groomed a number of girls on social media and requested explicit photographs between April 2017 and January 2020.

It's further alleged the man supplied alcohol to a 15-year-old girl in January 2020.

The man was granted conditional bail and is due to face Wollongong Local Court next month.