Portland coach faces kidnapping, child porn charges

Portland, OR, United States (4E) – A 54-year-old Portland basketball coach was arrested and charged with assault, kidnapping and child sexual abuse last Sunday after neighbors reported hearing a child yelling for help from his apartment.

According to authorities, one of the callers dialed 911 saying that a teenage boy could be heard screaming for help from Leslie Jerome Lewis` apartment.

Multnomah County sheriff’s deputies said that they discovered a 13-year-old boy, almost naked and trembling, forcibly held in the apartment by the coach.

Lewis was immediately arrested and detectives from the county child abuse team took over the investigation.

The boy, who is not seriously injured, was taken safely from the apartment.

Lewis is facing several charges, including first-degree kidnapping, first-degree criminal mistreatment, using a child in display of sexually explicit content, and interfering with a making a police report.

Investigators reported that the boy, who was whipped with a belt and photographed naked by Lewis, tried to escape but was grabbed by the neck.

Lewis has been coaching the Above the Rim basketball league in Portland since 2005, and the victim is one of his players. The team normally used the basketball courts at Woodlawn Park in Northeast Portland and no other coaches were listed as contacts for his team, said parks officials.

A background check revealed that Lewis has a long criminal record dating back to 1984 including felony theft, but no sex abuse charges.

Police are concerned about the possibility of other children victims and are asking anyone with information on the investigation or questions about other possible victims to contact Detective Mace Winter at (503) 823-0182.

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