A legendary high school basketball coach from New York avoided jail time yesterday when he pleaded guilty to statutory rape of a child and disseminating pornography in Boston.
Robert Oliva will instead serve five years of probation for raping a 14-year-old boy during a trip to Boston 35 years ago to see the Red Sox take on the Yankees.
“I now realize I lost my childhood to Bob Oliva,” said the victim in his impact statement. “I was his sex toy or his sex trophy.”
Oliva took the boy to Boston in 1976 where they saw the Sox game and stayed at the Sheraton Hotel, prosecutors said. That’s where Oliva assaulted the boy and showed him pornographic movies.
The victim did not come forward until 2009.
Oliva was ordered to register as a sex offender, undergo treatment and counseling, not coach again and not have any unsupervised contact with children under 18.
He is known for leading his high school team to five city championships and winning more than 540 games. He coached NBA stars Lamar Odom and Jayson Williams.
