A 23-year-old girl’s junior varsity basketball coach at Dobson High School was arrested after Mesa police say he admitted to having sex with several teenage girls on the team.

According to court records, Kyler Ashley was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of luring a minor and attempted sexual conduct with a minor. During an interview, Ashley admitted to having sex with a 17-year-old girl on “more than one occasion,” records said.

During an interview with police, the girl told officials she had had sex with Ashley in his car on three occasions, records said.

She said the first encounter happened in September 2018, when Ashley picked her up from her home and took her to a nearby parking lot. They got into the back seat of the car and had sex, records said.

The next happened in November 2018, with Ashley taking the girl home from practice and stopping at the same parking lot to have sex in the back seat.

The girl told police she believed the last incident happened in late December when Ashley took her to a church parking lot in Mesa to have sex, records said.

The girl was 16 years old at the time of the first two instances and 17 years old at the time of the last one, records said.

The pair did not have sex again after December, but Ashley talked to the girl about having a threesome, records said.

He also told the girl he had had sex with two of her other teammates, records said.

Additional records released by police on Friday said that Ashley had been messaging another 16-year-old girl on the team via Snapchat between September 2018 and May 2019. During those conversations, Ashley stated he wanted to meet up with the victim to have sex, knowing she was underage, records said.

On Tuesday, Ashley suggested he and the girl meet at a location to have sex, to which the girl responded that Ashley should bring condoms so she would not get pregnant, records said.

Ashley arrived at the location just before 6:15 p.m. Thursday, where police contacted him. He told police he knew it was illegal to have sex with a 16-year-old, records said.

Records on Ashley’s sexual contact with a third girl were also released on Friday, with the 17-year-old telling police the first encounter happened when Ashley was taking her home after a basketball game and stopped at an alley near her neighborhood on the way.

A second encounter happened when Ashley picked the girl up at a park near her home and drove to a parking lot, where the pair got in the back seat. 

In a third meeting, Ashley took the girl to an alley on the way home from a practice and told her to get naked. 

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In a fourth, Ashley parked next to the victim’s house and asked the girl “if she wanted to have fun” before handing his phone to his 1-year-old son sitting in the back seat to keep him occupied, records said.

The final encounter happened when Ashley met the girl at his vehicle parked in an alley behind her house. 

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A letter sent out to parents by Principal Tamara Addis said the school was not made aware of Kyler Ashley’s arrest until Thursday, and was not permitted to share the information publicly until Friday.

Ashley passed a background check when he was hired by the district in 2016 and received “extensive” training on his responsibilities, Addis said.

He is a seasonal coach for the girl’s junior varsity basketball team at Dobson High School and also coached seventh grade girls at Summit Academy. Ashley has not been on the Dobson campus since the end of the basketball season in February, Addis said.

Addis urged parents to remind their children that it is “not appropriate for a coach or other adult to initiate a personal relationship with a student.”

She urged students to immediately report similar situations to their parents or another adult.

Ashley was booked on felony charges including luring a minor for sexual exploitation, sexual conduct with a minor, and sexual abuse.

An investigation is ongoing.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @brieannafrank. 

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