Editor's note: This story contains descriptions of child sexual abuse that readers may find disturbing.
A former Grove Park Elementary School employee and middle school basketball coach is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday on charges of sexually assaulting a minor he encountered while coaching students from 2020 to 2022. was.
Torrey Evans, 36, is accused of creating fake social media profiles, forcing middle school boys to send him nude photos, and using those photos to blackmail them into having sex. According to a police report, the incident began in 2020 when the boy was 16 years old and continued until several weeks before Evans' arrest in October 2022.
Evans offered to coach the students outside of basketball practice, often picking them up to go to LA Fitness in Delray Beach. Evans is accused of sexually assaulting the boy in his car on the way to the gym.
Evans is charged with sexual assault of a minor by a person with custody of a child because of his position as a school district employee and boys basketball coach.
Evans has pleaded not guilty.
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Evans, a West Palm Beach resident, was hired by the school district in 2015 as an assistant in the food service department at Grove Park in Palm Beach Gardens, according to the school district's personnel file.
During his seven years with the district, Evans also coached boys basketball and girls volleyball at JFK Middle School in Riviera Beach and briefly worked as the basketball coach at Carver Middle School in Delray Beach.
He was a middle school basketball coach when he began working with a 16-year-old boy who was later reported to police for sexual abuse.
The boy told police that in the summer of 2020, he used Evans' phone to communicate with a woman using the X (formerly Twitter) username @NaeNae_TruthTeller. The boy said he sent nude photos to a woman he thought he was talking to online, and that the woman then threatened to share her photos if she didn't have sex with Evans.
According to his arrest report, Evans was the person who used another phone to manage the @NaeNae_TruthTeller account. His arrest report says the woman was not present.
Evans persuaded the boy to follow the fake woman's instructions, telling him that his reputation was at stake. Evans then sexually assaulted her repeatedly over several meetings, according to the arrest report.
The boy became suspicious of the woman's profile and later saw Evans' cell phone light up as he sent her a message. According to the arrest report, Evans hid his cell phone when he saw the boy looking at him.
From 2020 to 2022, Evans also started a travel basketball team, and the boy was a part of it. The team, which is not named in the report, played basketball games in Georgia and Alabama. The boy told police he stayed with Evans in a hotel room, where he sexually abused him.
The boy told police that Evans had been his basketball coach since he was in sixth grade. She said Evans sexually abused her “almost every day” and told her that doing so would give her more “control” on the basketball court.
Evans had been threatened with termination two months before his arrest.
Evans was threatened with termination by the school district in August 2022 for abandoning his job at Grove Park Elementary School, according to his personnel records. According to records, he did not report to work from August 4 to August 17 of the same year. He was ordered to return to his job.
On September 21, Evans resigned from the district.
A month later, the then 18-year-old student called Evans and began recording the conversation. During the phone call, he told Evans that he “forced us to do what we did,” adding, “What did you mean? Why did you make me do that? My mother is the only person for me and I trust you.” Was. “
“I don't know what I was thinking at that time. I don't know if it was emotion or emotion. I was just going, I wasn't thinking,” Evans said, according to the arrest report. He is said to have said.
He did not deny the charges, but asked to speak directly to the students in the car.
Evans was arrested by West Palm Beach Police on October 28, 2022.
Evans told investigators that just two weeks before his arrest, he had sexually abused a then-older student. He denied that he had any sexual contact with the student while she was a minor.
Mr. Evans is being represented by defense attorney Flynn Bertish. Contacted Monday, Bertisch declined to comment on the pending litigation.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, Palm Beach County Victim Services and Rape Crisis Center can help. Please contact our helpline at 561-833-7273 or toll free at 866-891-7273.
Katherine Kokal is an education journalist at the Palm Beach Post. Contact her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Please support our work, Subscribe today.