Wollongong basketball coach Jaydon Beveridge pleaded guilty to two child abuse charges on Monday.
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Beveridge, the 24-year-old son of former Illawarra Hawks coach Rob Beveridge, pleaded guilty to inciting a person under 16 to commit an act of indecency and intentionally inciting a child 10 years or older and under 16 years to carry out a sexual act.
The first charge related to conduct in West Wollongong between April 2017 and November 2018 when Beveridge was 19 and 20 and the victim was 14 and 15.
The second charge covered actions in West Wollongong between January and November 2019, when Beveridge was 20 and 21 and the victim was 15.
Due to legal reasons, The Mercury cannot report the facts of what Beveridge pleaded guilty to.
Beveridge will return to court on July 29.
Prior to Beveridge pleading guilty, the Crown withdrew a number of other charges relating to grooming children under 16 and the creation or procurement of child abuse material between 2017 and 2019 and procuring a child for unlawful sexual activity.
Beveridge was first charged in July 2020 and was on bail.
The 24-year-old was the head coach of the boys under 14 Illawarra rep squad and the development manager at Basketball Illawarra.
When he was charged, a spokesman for the Illawarra Basketball Association said the organisation had been notified of an investigation and charges laid against former employee Beveridge.
"We didn't have any knowledge of his alleged offences during his time as a coach with us," he said.
"Once IBA was informed of the allegations on Wednesday 17 June [2020], Beveridge was stood down immediately, and resigned once charges were laid.
"IBA takes the safety and care of its members extremely seriously, and has zero-tolerance for putting members' safety at risk.
"The Association is committed to best practice to ensure that we are supporting and protecting members at all times.
While on bail, Beveridge was banned from speaking to any underage person involved in basketball and police prohibited Beveridge from going within 100 metres of Beaton Park or the Snakepit, the home of Basketball Illawarra.
Beveridge also had to report to police twice a week and stay at his home in West Wollongong, except for a period over Christmas 2021 when he was allowed to travel to the Gold Coast for a family holiday.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
