UWS Basketball Coach Gets 20-Year Sentence For Sex Assaults: DA

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — An after-school basketball coach who sexually assaulted two young girls at an Upper West Side private school is facing decades in prison, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced Tuesday.

Channing Parker, 23, was sentenced to serve 20 years in state prison with 15 years of post-release supervision after pleading guilty to one count of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of first-degree criminal sexual act, prosecutors said.

"Channing Parker’s conduct has left an indelible mark on the lives of these two innocent children, and now he will face significant jail time for the pain and trauma he has caused. I would like to thank the prosecutors in my office’s Child Abuse Unit for bringing this man to justice and for their professionalism, diligence, and care in the work they do every day on behalf of survivors of child sexual assault," Vance said in a statement.

Keep up with neighborhood events and news by subscribing to the Upper West Side Patch to receive free daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.

Parker began working as a basketball instructor at the IDEAL School in November 2016 through his employer Kids Creative, a nonprofit that runs after-school programs at a number of city schools, prosecutors said. On March 10, 2017, Parker lured an 8-year-old student into a bathroom and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said.

The child reported the assault to her mother, which prompted the mother to contact the school. The IDEAL school reported the incident to the police after receiving the report.

After the school notified its parents of the incident, another 8-year-old girl stepped forward to accused Parker of taking her into the same bathroom and sexually assaulting her on March 8, prosecutors told Patch.

The IDEAL school cut ties with Kids Creative after the abuse was reported, a school spokesman told Patch in 2017.

Photo by Shutterstock