Zachary Ray, 31, of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, United States is a basketball coach and trainer. While working in his coaching capacity, he allegedly sexually abused three children, who are residents of Chester County, Pennsylvania.
From 2014 to 2023, Ray allegedly abused the three children at parks, schools and the children’s homes in Chester County. He was acting as the children’s coach and the children were aged 10 to 16 when the alleged crimes were committed.
During private lessons, Ray would allegedly take off the children’s clothes to do a core check or stretch them while touching their genitals. He is also accused of using his cellphone to take photos of the children.
On October 15, 2019, detectives interviewed one of Ray’s alleged victims, a girl from Schuylkill Township, Chester County. She said he was her trainer and during training sessions from 2018 to 2019, he touched her body about 15 times.
From 2019 to 2023, Ray was the coach of another girl from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who had been involved in various basketball leagues and teams in Pennsylvania. She and her family were introduced to him as a coach during her basketball tryouts.
In May 2023, the Philadelphia Special Victims Unit received a report about an allegation that Ray sexually abused the child. He allegedly would touch her inappropriately under her clothing on her bare chest and private parts from ages of 14 to 15 and would use his cellphone to take videos of himself rubbing her private areas.
Ray’s cellphone had a factory reset on December 26, 2021, which wiped the memory. When it was restored and backed up through iCloud in December 2022, photos of child sexual abuse were backed up to his cloud storage.
On August 21, 2023, Ray allegedly sexually abused multiple juvenile girls. On September 25, 2023, he was arrested by detectives from Chester County and remanded to Chester County Prison in West Chester, Chester County.
After posting 10 percent of $250,000 bail, Ray was released. He is facing several charges including indecent assault, child pornography, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors and unlawful contact with minors.
Ray is facing similar charges in Philadelphia and awaiting a trial. He will attend a preliminary hearing on October 4, 2023.
CONAN Daily 