Former Thurston County coach sentenced for attempting to rape DuPont girl he trained
A former coach for Thurston County Youth Football League has been sentenced to 157.5 months to life in prison for attempting to rape of 13-year-old girl in Pierce County.
Judge Shelly Speir-Moss sentenced Desmond Clemons, a 35-year-old veteran, during a Pierce County Superior Court hearing on Nov. 29.
A jury found Clemons guilty of five counts on Oct. 18, including second-degree attempted rape of a child and four counts of felony communication with a minor for immoral purposes. The jury also returned special verdicts for each county that found Clemons “used his position of trust or confidence” to commit these crimes, according to court records.
Clemons reportedly began messaging the 13-year-old girl in July 2022 and DuPont Police arrested him on Sept. 1, 2022. Court records indicate Clemons previously trained the girl through the Thurston County Youth Football League from June 2021 until about May 2022.
In an emailed statement sent to The Olympian, Tim Claridge, TCYFL president, confirmed that Clemons served as a volunteer coach during the 2021 season, which ran from Aug. 2 to Oct. 31. Clemons also registered as a volunteer for the 2022 season on Aug. 1 of that year, he said.
“Upon notification of his arrest on September 1, 2022, Clemons was immediately relieved of any and all responsibilities he had as a volunteer for TCYFL,” Claridge said.
Clemons also operated a youth sports training program that was not affiliated with TCYFL, Claridge said. Some of Clemon’s clients became aware of that program through his ties to the TCYFL, Claridge said.
Claridge said all volunteers are required to complete a criminal background check, certification with USA Football and certification with TCYFL. At the start of the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Claridge said Clemons met the criteria of this process.
The league has provided a “positive environment” for more than 3,000 youth in the community each season for more than 50 years, Claridge said. He said the league intends to continue its diligence in qualifying its over 1,200 volunteers, Claridge said.
“The actions of Clemons are reprehensible and in no way are condoned by TCYFL, nor do they represent the type of volunteers we diligently strive to have in our organization,” Claridge said.
Clemons was transferred into Washington state Department of Correction custody on Tuesday, according to the Pierce County jail roster. Court records show he has no known criminal history aside from this recent conviction.
The investigation
A probable cause statement describes the investigation into Clemons actions through the perspective of law enforcement.
A DuPont police officer contacted the girl’s mother on Aug. 29, 2022. The mother reported that Clemons had used TikTok, Instagram and text messages to send inappropriate communications to her daughter, according to the statement.
On July 20, Clemons reportedly contacted the girl on TikTok to say he loved her videos. He also said he missed her and loved her profile picture, court records say.
On July 31, Clemons contacted the girl on Instagram to say he took her helmet from a warehouse to hold on to. He also said he wanted to tell her something but was “extremely scared to.”
On Aug. 27, the girl received text messages from an unknown number. The person who sent them identified themselves as “DES” and told her he was “obsessed” with her and wanted the two of them to “be together,” the statement says.
The girl informed her mother about the text messages the following morning.
The mother reportedly told police she had previously been friendly with Clemons while he trained her daughter. However, the mother said she ended the training sessions after Clemons allegedly complained to her daughter about “friendship issues” between them.
A detective with the Washington State Patrol’s Missing and Exploited Children Task force began texting Clemons using the girl’s phone on Aug. 31. During their exchanges, the statement says Clemons described sexual acts he wanted to do with the girl.
The detective, still acting as the girl, invited Clemons to the girl’s home on Sept. 1. Clemons was arrested at the scene with a condom on his person.
A trial brief filed by Connor Jepson, Clemons’ defense attorney, says Clemons never discussed “sex, sexual acts or sexual topics” in any of his messages with the girl. The brief indicates sex was only brought up by the detective who “lured” Clemons to the girl’s home.
After his arrest, the brief says Clemons only wanted a “relationship” with the girl and he denied any desire to have sex with her.
A search of Clemons’ two cell phones reportedly yielded nothing of “evidentiary interest” aside from the messages at issue in the case, according to the brief.
