Popular Soccer Coach Sentenced to 20 Years for Molesting Players

WHITTIER â€”  Athletic, talented and dedicated, Raymond Lee McClendon seemed the perfect coach and buddy for the 12 boys on his Whittier youth soccer team.

After he started coaching in 1988, parents let him baby-sit and take their sons to the movies. He lived with one family, was a frequent weekend guest of another and dated the mother of one team member.

Thus, the families could not believe at first that the 29-year-old McClendon could be a child molester. They said later that they never anticipated any threat to their children from the affable coach they had invited into their homes.

McClendon, sentenced last week to 20 years in prison on molestation charges, now sits in County Jail awaiting transfer to state prison. His attorney has filed an appeal.

He was charged last summer with 19 counts of molestation involving four Whittier boys, ages 10 through 13. A Norwalk Superior Court judge convicted McClendon in January of 10 counts of fondling and oral copulation occurring between September, 1988, and June, 1991.

The families of two other boys declined to press charges because they did not want to put their children through a trial. Authorities suspect there may have been other victims as well.

The molestations came to light one night last summer when the parents of a 10-year-old boy found McClendon, who was their house guest, sleeping on the floor next to their son, authorities said. The son later told his parents that McClendon had touched his genitals. The parents said they confronted McClendon, who broke down and cried, saying the touching was an accident.

The parents, who work professionally with abused children, reluctantly reported the incident to police.

“One of the hardest steps was walking into that police station,� said the mother, who requested anonymity along with the families of the other boys.

The other parents involved in the case said they had no idea--until sheriff’s investigators contacted them in July--that McClendon had molested neighborhood boys over a three-year period. According to a probation report, McClendon started molesting younger boys when he was 17.

The investigation shocked most people who know McClendon, who grew up in Whittier, owned a carpet cleaning business and carved out a reputation as a top-flight soccer coach.

He quickly became popular with the boys and parents alike, and he led his team of 10- and 11-year-olds to three regional championships of the American Youth Soccer Organization.

“I never suspected him,� one parent said. “He was always very kind, well-mannered and clean-cut. He was very knowledgeable as far as soccer went. To this day my son says, ‘No one knows soccer like Ray.’ And no one’s denying that . . . he has a gift for teaching kids.�

Another parent said McClendon visited her family after soccer practice. Within a month, McClendon was sleeping over on weekends. He attended games and went to church with the couple and their children.

One parent recalled that McClendon first befriended her family through a business deal. McClendon later dated the woman during a six-month period when she was separated from her husband. McClendon recruited her son into youth soccer.

In the aftermath of the molestation case, Whittier youth soccer officials have taken steps to increase parent awareness. A special meeting was held in August to discuss the matter, and officials of the American Youth Soccer Organization said they are preparing a handbook for families outlining league policies and parent responsibilities. Soccer commissioners already attend training sessions on preventing molestation and promoting parent awareness, they said.

The nationwide nonprofit group includes 400,000 players ages 5 through 18 and 70,000 coaches. Officials noted that the all-volunteer league typically finds itself short of coaches, particularly skilled ones such as McClendon.

Since the molestations, Whittier parents appear “more concerned� about their children and pick them up more promptly from practice, said Ralph Tovar, a soccer commissioner. The number of players has dropped slightly, but Tovar attributed that to a shortage of coaches.

The organization’s headquarters in Hawthorne receives three to five reports a year of alleged molestation by coaches, Executive Director Dick Wilson said.

The administrative office is considering conducting background checks on coaches, Wilson added. Such a screening would not have flagged McClendon, however, because he had no criminal record.

McClendon’s mother said she cannot accept that her son is a child molester.

“This case has really been a devastating experience and a mother’s worst nightmare,� Joan McClendon said. News of the molestation charges caused business at her once-thriving beauty supply shop to dry up, forcing her to close, she said. She changed her home telephone number after receiving threatening calls, and she plans to move to another city.

She said McClendon was molested at age 6 by a neighborhood boy. She wanted to press charges but was advised by the district attorney to drop the matter, she said.

“It was in the early ‘60s, and in those days laws were very different than they are now about these matters. I took Ray to the doctor, who counseled him, but in those days, you didn’t talk about those things. You just went on with your life,� she said.

At his sentencing, a tearful McClendon sat with his head bowed and fists clenched as Judge Robert W. Armstrong told him: “You’re going to have to get help, so when you get out, you’ll be able to control your desires.�

McClendon will be eligible for parole in 10 years--too soon, said some parents, who wanted the maximum of 34 years. Two mothers said their sons are going through counseling.

“My child is still having nightmares,� one parent said. “We had to move because our house had too many bad memories for him.�

The incident has changed parent attitudes about commonplace events. “When someone asks if they can give my boy a ride, I have to think twice, and now I make sure someone else from my family is with him,� one mother said.

Said another: “We tell our children to watch out for strangers, but we don’t tell them to watch out for your best friend. It’s sad that it’s come to that.�