A Santa Maria Valley youth basketball coach pleaded no contest to one count of lewd acts on a child age 14 or 15 in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.
Ramoan Blackmon, 39, initially faced four counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child, with allegations some occurred when the alleged victim was 13 or younger and others when she was 14 or older.
As part of the plea deal, Blackmon will be ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, Deputy District Attorney Brandon Jebens said.
The defendant also will be placed on five years of formal felony probation, Jebens said.
Blackmon, who was represented by defense attorney Addison Steele, will return to court March 6 for sentencing.
“Mr. Blackmon was faced with the difficult decision of settling his case and being able to go home on the sentencing date or going to trial, and risking that if he lost, going to prison,” Steele said. “Based on settling the case, it’s clear it was very important to him to just be able to go home.”
Until then, Blackmon will remain in Santa Barbara County Jail custody, Jebens said.
During a preliminary hearing in December, the victim recanted her claims Blackmon molested her.
At the end of the three-hour hearing, Judge Gustavo Lavayen held Blackmon to answer to the charges. The judge said he considered the girl’s testimony and demeanor in deciding her denials of the molestations incidents were not credible.
Blackmon was executive director and coach for Cal Hoops Elite Basketball Academy.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.