Houston area coach arrested for sexual assault of 13-year-old softball player

A Houston area youth softball league is reeling from news that an assistant coach for the association's 14-and-under team has been arrested for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

As first reported by Houston network KHOU-TV, Ryan Jon Loofboro was arrested on counts of aggravated sexual assault and indecency with a child in connection with two separate incidents with a 13-year-old softball player in March and April. The two counts carry with them a combined $80,000 bail fee and could land Loofboro in jail for years.

Loofboro has been a volunteer assistant coach for the Friendswood (Texas) Girls Softball Association (FGSA), which assigned him to the league's 14-and-under squad. The FGSA president, Dan Lisbony, said he was shocked to hear of Loofboro's arrest but insisted that the league's policies for screening potential coaches and volunteers was robust, regardless of Loofboro's alleged violations.

"We require all background checks for assistants and team moms who are going to be on the fields," Lisbony told KHOU.

While Friendswood police continue to investigate whether Loofboro has any other victims in the softball league, other parents said they planned to talk to their children and use Loofboro's alleged crimes as a teaching point to try and make their children more wary of any potential predators, even if they might be serving as a youth coach.

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