Rape Charges Filed Against Coach At Parkesburg Youth Center

CHESTER COUNTY, PA —A 31-year-old volunteer basketball coach at the Parkesburg Point Youth Center was arrested on charges of raping a 13-year-old girl in July, police said Friday.

Ameer Sutton-Best of Parkesburg is in Chester County Prison in lieu of $1 million after being arraigned before District Judge Nancy Gill on charges of rape, sexual abuse and related offenses.

Sutton-Based is accused of raping the victim in a parking lot with school buses near her home.

He is also accused of sending pornography messages to a second 13-year-old victim and sending inappropiate snapchat messages to two other girls, ages 14 and 13.

Police said the suspect asked one victim if she was into older men and asked the other victim to send him nude photos.

Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said police believe there may be additional victims

“Ameer Sutton-Best is a child predator who preyed on young teen girls knowing their age and violating his position of trust,” Ryan said. “He had the audacity to try to buy his way out of this. Thankfully, these victims had the fortitude to report his reprehensible behavior.”

According to police:

Dwayne Walton, superintendent at the Parkesburg Youth Center, notified police that he received information that Sutton-Best was having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old. The you center is a juvenile detention center.

During an interview with the victim, investigators learned that earlier in the summer, she received text messages from the defendant that were sexual in nature.

A second child victim had provided the defendant with Victim 1’s phone number.

The victim told police that Sutton-Best drove her to a parking lot and raped here while she was yelling “no.”

The victim said she blocked Sutton-Best from her social media accounts.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call Chester County Detectives at 610-344-6866.

Call Childline at 1-800-932-0313 if you suspect a child is being abused.

Learn to recognize, react, and report child sexual abuse by taking a free virtual Stewards of Children workshop. Contact County Coordinator Elisa Mendoza at emendoza@chesco.org or 610-344-5576 for more information.