BREAKING NEWS: Coach for AAU basketball team founded by WNBA player is sentenced to jail for sex assault
A coach in an AAU girl’s basketball program founded by a former WNBA player has been sentenced to jail time after being found guilty of sexual assault.
Danny Lawhorn, 33, of Hartford, was charged with child enticement for the alleged sexual abuse of three players.
Lawhorn was a coach in the Bria Holmes Elite AAU program. He is accused of assaulting a team member who was staying at his home in June 2021 after asking her for a massage, according to court documents.
He has been sentenced to 10 years jail, suspended after four years, and probation for 10 years to follow.
Investigators said a minor reported she was sexually assaulted by Lawhorn, who was hosting her to play for his local AAU team. She contacted Hartford police who arrested Lawhorn after he admitted to the sexual encounter, knowing she was under the age of 18.
Two former players from the program later came forward to say they had been abused by Lawhorn in 2017 and 2019, federal prosecutors said. Both girls, who were under the age of 18 at the time, said Lawhorn also asked for a massage before he sexually assaulted them, according to court documents.
Lawhorn was removed as a coach after his arrest. He had coached multiple teams for the program founded by Bria Holmes, a former Connecticut high school star who went on to play at West Virginia and in the WNBA.
