Parents Complain After Louisiana Man Facing Molestation Charges Seen at Youth Basketball Tryouts
Parents at the Ascension Youth Basketball Association tryouts were uneasy this past Saturday after a photo spotted a man who is currently facing child molestation charges.
WBRZ reports that Jermaine Miles was charged with five counts of child molestation back in 2019 and given an initial bond of $1 million. He was eventually released on a much lower bond of $50,000 with stipulations that included he "stay away from coaching."
Ascension Parish District Attorney Ricky Babin confirmed that law enforcement is currently investigating why Miles was at the gym.
There were some stipulations in the bond that he not coach or mentor or deal with coaching basketball or any other sport with minors. Somebody did make a complaint that he was there, just could not confirm whether he was there to watch his own children or to participate in the coaching or mentoring of those young people.
Parents allegedly complained that Miles was in attendance, with several of them claiming that he was "holding a clipboard, using a whistle and directly interacting with kids at the tryouts"—all things that would mean he was violating the conditions of his bond.
If authorities do confirm those reported violations, Miles' bond will "likely be revoked."
I would bring to the court's attention anything other than being there as a passive observer as a parent watching his own children. If he was alone with the children, instructing the children, in close proximity working with the children, mentoring the children, picking them up, dropping them off, having any contact like that, I would consider that prohibitive by the bond.
Reactions on social media included a majority of those who were also concerned and a few who seemingly defended Miles via their comments.
See the full story and follow any updates here via WBRZ and watch a video of the report below.