Italian basketball coach arrested for charges of raping underage boy / News - Basketnews.com

A coach who has been previously sentenced for possessing child pornography has been arrested for charges of raping an underage boy in the Stella Azzurra Academy in Italy. Coach Traino was also sentenced to two years in 2018 before allegedly committing the same crime again in 2020.

Credit: Instagram/stellazzurraroma Credit Instagram/stellazzurraroma

A huge youth basketball story is undergoing in Italy, involving serious charges against a coach from a famous academy.

The Stella Azzurra Academy is known worldwide and is often visited by famous basketball people, including Klay Thompson or Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv's chairman Shimon Mizrahi. However, the institution has been battling in court recently over accusations that might shed an awful light on the academy.

Stella Azzurra's coach Paolo Traino has been arrested for charges of raping an underage boy. The investigation was initially dismissed several years ago but it was later restarted after additional information reached the investigators.

The case focuses on an incident that occurred in 20202. At the time, the victim was 13 years old. It was first reported by the team's psychologist, but the case was dismissed. A year later, the boy's mother found his diary where the abuse was detailed. The coach was arrested on January 30th, 2023.

"The way the coach acted, he always looked for tricks to be alone with the players. For example, he called him to the locker room at a time when no one was there," one athlete recalled a story where his friend was involved. "Under the guise of a massage, he asked him to bend over, since he is short and my friend is much taller. Then he started stroking and kissing his neck. In the end, he even spread cream on his lower back."

"I think he behaved in the same way with everyone, even in a more serious way. I know that on other occasions he has made explicit and inadequate invitations to the boys. He asked someone to go to his house for dinner, [he asked] others to sleep together during the trips," the unnamed informant said.

This would not be the first offense of a similar kind for coach Traino.

Back in 2000, he was sentenced to six months in jail for possession of child pornography. He continued coaching children for the last 20+ years. In 2018, he was sentenced to two years for raping an underage boy. Before the sentence became final, he moved to Rome where he now allegedly committed the same crime in 2020.

Stella Azzurra is now involved in the trial as well. The academy is accused of not doing its due diligence and ignoring the previous offenses by coach Traino, essentially assisting in the crime.

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