A jury received the case Wednesday against a former youth sports coach who is accused of lewdness with a teenage girl.
Richard Alexander Jenkins, 48, is denying four counts of lewdness with a minor that occurred in the summer of 2018, when she was just 13.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 8-40 years in prison.Jenkins said that he didn’t remember having regular contact with her until the spring of 2018.
A carpet cleaner by trade, Jenkins said he’d started coaching 7-8 years ago when his daughter began to show an interest in playing volleyball.
He said he was happy his daughter had found a friend, and both girls helped out at volleyball clinics Jenkins participated in at the Douglas County Recreation Center.
“We’d mentally adopted her,” he said.
Jenkins said he didn’t coach any of the teams the girl was on, but their closeness prompted witnesses to question their relationship.
Video played in court showed Jenkins and the girl hugging and photos showed her resting her head on his shoulder at a Minden restaurant.
He admitted that he’d placed his hands on her hips to adjust a stance to improve her volleyball serve.
Jenkins, who was also coaching at Douglas High School, said that after the school year began, he received a call from the principal who placed him on a brief suspension. He testified that suspension was lifted after he met with the principal the next day.
But he said he was more cautious with the girl after that.
“It made things more weird,” he said.
Jenkins denied touching the girl in a sexual way while he knew her.
On Sept. 20, 2018, Jenkins said he was banned from the recreation center and that he hasn’t been inside since.
Douglas County Investigator Nadine Chrzanowski testified she received the case on Sept. 24, 2018, to follow up on a report of inappropriate contact between a coach and a player.
She said she reviewed video footage of the pair and met with the girl and her mother.
During that first interview, Chrzanowski said the girl described the relationship as one of father and daughter.
She testified that the mother and daughter spoke to her a second time when the girl described the intimate relationship that prompted charges.
Jenkins was arrested Nov. 8, 2018, at his home.
He is being represented by Reno attorney Theresa Ristenpart. Douglas County Deputy District Attorney Chelsea Mazza is prosecuting.
Most of the prosecution’s case was conducted last week, with the morning reserved for testimony from an expert witness, one of the other players on the team and an investigator on Tuesday morning.
Nine women and five men were selected for the jury at the CVIC Hall last week. Two will be alternates when the case goes to the jury.
