DA: Youth hoops coach from N.C. charged in rape of player

A North Carolina youth basketball coach faces rape charges and a 4-year prison term after having sex with one of his players - a 16-year-old autistic girl - when his team traveled to Long Island for a tournament, the Nassau County district attorney's office said.

Freddie Lamont Wilson, 62, was arrested by local authorities last month in North Carolina and extradited to New York last week, the district attorney's office said in a release. Wilson is charged with third-degree rape and is being held without bail. He is scheduled to return to court July 21.

According to the release, District Attorney Kathleen Rice said Wilson recruited the player when she was 15, in 2007, after "watching her play in a park." The release said the victim is "developmentally disabled and mildly autistic."

Wilson started a sexual relationship with her in May 2008, the release said. When the team visited New York in August 2008, Wilson had sex with her three times while they stayed in Elmont with a member of Wilson's family.

The girl's parents found out about relationship when the team returned to North Carolina, police said. Wilson pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor and served about a year in jail.

But he now faces more serious charges in New York, the office said, because the age of consent is 17 years old rather than 16 years old like in North Carolina.

"This man preyed on the most vulnerable child on his team," Rice said. "There is no excuse or explanation for this defendant's actions and my office will make sure he is held accountable for this crime."