A former Salvation Army youth basketball coach will now serve more than 25 years in prison after being sentenced in a second child sexual abuse case Monday.
Wendell Anthony Greene, 38, of Duluth already was serving an 18-year sentence after a jury found him guilty last year of sexually assaulting two preteen girls. On Monday, he was sentenced to a concurrent 25½-year sentence for engaging in sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl that he coached, a charge to which he pleaded guilty last month.
Judge Mark Munger accepted a plea agreement between the parties on the first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge and imposed the sentence. Munger also ordered that Greene register as a predatory offender and be subject to supervised release for the rest of his life.
The sentence is subject to an ongoing appeal of Greene’s conviction in the other case and could be revised should an appellate court overturn the conviction.
In pleading guilty to a count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in August, Greene admitted that he had sex with a 14-year-old girl that he coached in the “Race for Center Court” program. He acknowledged that he was in a position of authority over the girl, whom he had coached for about four years.
The victim was allowed to testify at Greene’s September 2013 trial on his other charges. The girl testified that Greene initiated sexual intercourse while in her house when she was 14 years old and while she was changing into her basketball clothes. She said that developed into a relationship and that they had sex several times after that over a prolonged period in 2010.
Prosecutor Rebekka Stumme said the victim, her family and law enforcement were in agreement with the plea deal. She thanked the victim for being “compassionate, forthcoming and honest” at the trial.
“The victim was hurt and affected deeply,” Stumme told the court.
Greene declined to address the court before sentencing. Defense attorney Thomas Skare simply urged the judge to accept the agreement.
Munger previously sentenced Greene to a maximum guideline sentence of 18 years in prison. A jury convicted him on Sept. 18, 2013, on one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.
In that case, two sisters testified that they were abused by Greene in summer 2012. The girls were 8 and 10 at the time of the abuse. Both of the girls testified at the trial, as did their mother, who said Greene forged a close relationship with the children, both as a coach and later as a personal care assistant in their home.
Greene coached in the Salvation Army Rookie Basketball Association from 2008-12. He also coached seventh-grade girls at Duluth East High School in 2007-08, sixth-grade girls at Hermantown High School in 2009, and Duluth Amateur Youth Basketball Association from 2010-12.
