Soccer Coach Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Teen

An Orange County girls' club soccer coach pleaded guilty today to sexually assaulting a teenage girl and was immediately sentenced to 270 days in jail.

Ronnie Gamez, 27, of Laguna Niguel, who was arrested in March, pleaded guilty to sexual penetration of a minor with a foreign object, two counts of oral copulation of a minor and two counts of unlawful sex with a minor, all felonies, according to court records. He was also placed on five years of formal probation.

The parents of the victim, who was between 14 and 17 years old, found sexually suggestive text messages from Gamez on their daughter's phone and called authorities, according to Orange County sheriff's officials. The two began their relationship in February, authorities said.

Gamez was associated with several Orange County soccer clubs. His Facebook page at the time of his arrest said he was a head coach with South Slammers FC, a soccer club based in Newport Beach.

--City News Service