PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A former football coach at Downingtown West High School is being held on $100,000 bond, charged with sexually abusing a child.
Kenneth Walls, 77 from Downingtown. is accused of molesting a 12-year-old.
According to charging documents, the investigation started when the child told a school staff member that a man had been sexually assaulting her for two or three years.
Court documents say when detectives interviewed Walls, he admitted to assaulting the girl.
Walls was a staff football coach with Downingtown West. More recently, he was a volunteer coach. The district is cooperating with the investigation.
Related
According to the criminal complaint, the girl said over the past two or three years, she would visit Walls’ home on Higgins Circle in Downingtown, sometimes staying there.
She says he bought her a cell phone, a hoverboard, and AirPods, and he would take her out to lunch or dinner, or to fairs and carnivals.
Walls faces a long list of charges, including 20 counts each of aggravated indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor.
Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan calls it a common pattern: Giving a child gifts and making her feel special while actually grooming her, and duping her family into thinking he's a kind and generous man.