Ex-coach pleads guilty to sex with female player
PITTSBURGH — A Knoch High School graduate, who is a former Pine-Richland High School basketball coach, pleaded guilty to having sex with a 16-year-old female player.
In Allegheny County Court Wednesday morning, 33-year-old Cliff Foster of Wexford pleaded guilty to sexual intercourse with a student and corruption of minors, according to court records.
Judge Jill Rangos sentenced Foster to serve 11½ to 23 months in prison followed by seven years of probation. He also must register his whereabouts with state police for the rest of his life, and he is forbidden from contacting the victim for 10 years.
Foster was hired as the girls basketball coach at Pine-Richland before the 2012-13 season.
According to court records, the girl also played for an Amateur Athletic Union club team that Foster founded. She allegedly had sex with him in hotel rooms on out-of-state basketball trips.
The sexual relationship began in April and ended in October after police arrested Foster.
Police began investigating Foster after an Allegheny County child welfare caseworker received a report about a possible relationship between Foster and the girl.
Foster’s defense attorney Robert Andrews, said his client pleaded guilty to spare the girl the trauma of a trial.
Foster had been jailed since Jan. 19, after prosecutors said he violated his bond by contacting the girl several times between Nov. 26 and Jan. 4. Foster sent the girl a silver necklace, wrote her a love letter and called her through his sister, Allegheny County prosecutors said.
While a player at Knoch, Foster was named Butler Eagle Boys Basketball Player of the Year for the 1999-2000 season.
He went on to a standout basketball career at La Roche College, where he set school records. During his senior season, he led La Roche to its first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
