'Expensive gifts for all the girlies who show me some love,' Colts Neck coach texted child

FREEHOLD She knew Terry Kou since she started taking tennis lessons from him once or twice a week when she was 8 or 9 years old.

Two things in her life changed when she was 11 - her father was sent to prison for five years, and Kuo started treating her more like a friend than his student.

"He was just like an older figure to me,'' the woman said of Kuo, testifying before a Monmouth County jury Tuesday. "My dad wasn't around, so that was my closest (sic).''

When she turned 12, "he started touching me sexually,'' the woman told the jury at Kuo's sexual assault trial.

The sexual conduct progressed at her tennis lessons as the girl's 13th birthday approached, the woman said.

"He would try putting his hands down my pants or in my underwear,'' she said. "He would try to rub my vagina.''

Her mother was working in Brooklyn at the time, leaving her at home in Marlboro, and her older brother was away at college, she said.

The Asbury Park Press is withholding the woman's name because of the nature of the allegations and her age when the acts were said to have occurred.

Prosecutors allege the woman was sexually assaulted by Kuo in 2016 and 2017, when she was 12 and 13. They also allege Kuo took pornographic photographs of her, also in that time frame.

The woman is now 19.

Kuo, 32, is on trial before Superior Court Judge Jill Grace O'Malley, charged with kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, causing or permitting a child to engage in pornography, manufacturing child pornography, possessing child pornography, obscenity, endangering the welfare of a child and conspiring to tamper with evidence.

He stood trial on the same charges over the summer, but O'Malley declared a mistrial Aug. 4  after the jury deliberated for more than a week without being able to reach a unanimous verdict.

Kuo's accuser told much the same story Tuesday as she did at the trial over the summer, including that the defendant would shower her with expensive gifts, including at least three iPhones, an Apple computer, Tiffany jewelry, Uggs and clothing from Victoria's Secret, as well as cash and gift cards.

But Kuo didn't give those gifts freely, she testified. He demanded "hugs'' in return, the woman testified, saying she came to realize the presents were in exchange for letting him touch her sexually.

Kuo would refer to what he gave her as an "allowance,'' the woman said.

"Then, I thought it was just a gift, but usually he would touch me and then give the gift after he touched me,'' she told the jury.

Ryan Lavender, an assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, asked the witness if she looks at the situation differently now than when she was just 12, about to turn 13.

"When I was 12, turning 13, I didn't really know anything,'' she said. "I didn't talk to boys. I never had sexual encounters with anyone. I didn't really know what they meant.”

The woman told the jury about an incident that occurred in 2017 while she was playing tennis at the Marlboro Swim Club. The ball went over a fence and into the woods, and she went to reach over a log to retrieve it, she said.

"He pushed me over the log and pulled down my pants,'' the woman told the jury. "He tried putting his penis inside of me.''

Kuo's attempt to penetrate her was not successful, she said.

"I freaked out,'' she testified. "I picked up my pants right away. If I called for help, there was no one around.''

She described another occasion when Kuo took her out for a sushi dinner and brought her to the Marlboro Swim Club afterward.

"We parked, and Terry told me to get into the back seat,'' she said. "He took my pants off and I think he took pictures of me.''

The woman said Kuo was rubbing her vagina as he took the pictures.

Then, he told her to get out of the car and lean against the snack stand at the swim club, where he took more pornographic photographs of her.

A detective last week testified about finding pornographic photos of the girl on Kuo's computer, as well as a photo of the girl at the sushi restaurant earlier that night. The detective mapped the GPS locations where the pictures were taken - a sushi restaurant in Manalapan and the Marlboro Swim Club.

Lavender questioned the accuser about text messages Kuo sent her, asking her to read some of them.

In one of them, he said, "I buy nice expensive gifts for all the girlies who show me some love and still prefer to drive a (expletive) ride,'' the woman said, reading from a report containing the messages.

"So, he sent that to you when you were 12?'' Lavender asked the witness.

"Yes,'' she replied.

Lavender asked the witness to read another text message Kuo sent to her.

The witness obliged and read:

"Like I said, no pussy is worth my sincerity, authenticity or dignity. My love, heart and intentions are good, and those are the things I save for people who matter. So, I don't give a (expletive) how young, fresh or beautiful you are. See me as a dollar sign and I'll simply ask you how much, and that's assuming I need the extra cardio - period.''

Lavender asked the witness if that message was sent to her just before her 13th birthday.

"Yes,'' the woman replied.

A text he sent after her 13th birthday pictured the girl with a Louis Vuitton handbag he gave her for her birthday.

The woman testified that when she was still 12, Kuo texted her photographs of him shirtless and one where he was naked, holding a towel over his penis.

She never told anyone about their relationship until November 2017, after she and Kuo fought because she had shown an interest in a boy her own age, she testified.

"Terry gave me a whole speech about how I shouldn't talk to other boys,'' she said.

After that, she reported the sexual assaults to the mother of a friend and then the police. Detectives later discovered naked pictures of her on Kuo's computer, she said.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Colts Neck tennis pro gave child gifts to touch her, accuser testifies