Last Updated: 7/14/2020
Sheriff’s Detectives in Sacramento County arrested 32-year-old Foothill High School Head Basketball Coach Stephen Calton on Thursday, November 29 for allegedly sexually assaulting a student from the school. Calton was brought into custody and charged with Felony Oral Copulation with a person under the age of 18.
According to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, they were notified of allegations in June of this year about an incident from about 2 years ago, when a student was allegedly sexually assaulted. Sheriff’s Detectives investigated the allegations and eventually identified Stephen Calton as the suspect.
Police also rearrested Calton on Misdemeanor Battery against a person with a previous dating relationship, Felony Vandalism, and Felony Burglary charges in connection with a 2016 case when Calton was sentenced to 5 years of formal searchable probation.
In an official statement, the Twin Rivers Unified School District announced that Calton was immediately placed on administrative leave after the school was notified of the allegations by the Sheriff’s Department.
Attorney contributor Jason Amala is a sex crime attorney, based in California who now represents survivors of sports coach sex abuse cases in civil court. Here is his perspective on the legal options available to those who have been sexually abused by coaches and other school employees:
“There are tons of cases were teachers, coaches, or other authoritative figures in a position of trust, are perpetrators of a child sexual abuse incident. When this happens, attending to the needs of the victim and contacting the police must be the top priority. In order to file a lawsuit, it is important to determine if a third party, such as the school was negligent in any way that enabled the sexual abuse to occur. An example of such negligence would be a failure to run a background check before hiring a new employee,” Mr. Amala shared.