A former youth basketball coach who admitted sexually abusing five girls has lost his gamble for treatment and was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison.
David W. Etheridge, 45, of Lynnwood told a judge he violated the trust of his victims and their families.
Etheridge pleaded guilty in late January to one count each of first-degree child rape and first-degree child molestation. The charges encompass sexual activities with the five victims, who were molested between 1998 and 2000.
At the time, defense attorney Susan Gaer told Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Linda Krese that she would seek a special sentencing alternative that would allow Etheridge to spend just six months in the county jail and then undergo intensive sexual deviancy treatment in the community.
Both Gaer and deputy prosecutor Kathy Jo Kristof agreed they would both recommend the 20-year term if Etheridge was found ineligible for the sentencing alternative. When he pleaded guilty, Gaer said Etheridge was a good prospect for treatment because he wants it and knows he needs it.
Etheridge lost the gamble. On Thursday, evaluators reported to the judge that he would be a poor risk for community release. The sentence is about six years more than the top end of the standard range.
Etheridge used to coach girls basketball for the Alderwood Boys and Girls Club and Lynnwood Tigers Youth Sports. He coached some of the victims. Others were friends of his daughter. All were between 8 and 11 years old when he assaulted them, court documents said.
Kristof accused Etheridge of abusing his trust as a father, neighbor and youth coach to gain access to the girls.
In court, Etheridge said he’s “very well aware” of the damage he’s done. “I can’t give back what I’ve taken,” he said.
He also told Krese he knows how the victims feel, because he once was a victim himself. Even so, “I’m not negating my responsibility on that,” he told the judge.
In a letter, Etheridge told the judge about his “deep regret and sorrow for what I have done,” and he said he’s “sorry beyond what words can truly express.”
Krese agreed that Etheridge violated a position of trust, and that justified an exceptionally long term.
After the hearing, an emotional father stood outside the courtroom saying that he had trusted Etheridge.
“I always thought him an upstanding guy until this case came to light,” the Lynnwood man said. “How do you know?”
The man is the father of one of the five victims. His name is being withheld to protect the identity of his child.
“His daughter and my daughter grew up together,” he said of Etheridge. “This is something you can’t get back. It’s really tough.”
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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