MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A 20-year-old former high school basketball coach has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct for engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old girl.
Jenessa Diamond White, of St. Paul, was arrested Tuesday after police caught her engaging in sexual activity with the teen in the area of Jefferson Park, near Blaine High School. She was charged Thursday with second-degree and third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
While on a routine patrol around 9 p.m., police noticed a vehicle in the parking lot with the passenger seat in a fully reclined position. The officer observed two occupants, both undressed from the waist down.
The girl in the vehicle told police that White was her ninth grade basketball coach at Blaine High School and said the two had been dating for the last month. White and the girl both admitted the sexual relationship to police. White was then taken into custody and booked into the Anoka County Jail on allegations of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Brett Johnson, a spokesperson for the Anoka-Hennepin School District, said the district is conducting its own investigation separate from police.
“We want to be careful not to interfere with what the police are doing,” Johnson said.
Johnson said White was an assistant ninth grade basketball coach whose contract started Nov. 14, 2011 and ended March 17, 2012. She was no longer employed by the district after her contract expired on March 17. Johnson also said the district will be contacting the parents of the basketball program she helped coach.
