A former New Jersey field hockey club coach pled guilty Friday morning in the Somerset County Courthouse.
Brett Clay, 39, was arrested and released on bail earlier this year, after he was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, which in New Jersey, is a second-degree felony. If convicted, he was facing possible penalties of five to 10 years in prison and a maximum possible fine of $150,000.
A Somerset County clerk confirmed that Clay met with the judge Friday morning, and entered a guilty plea. The court docket will be updated online in a few days to reflect his plea, the clerk said. There wasn’t any additional information about his plea made immediately available at this time.
His sentencing date is scheduled for February 2025, the clerk said.
Clay was accused by one of his former players of allegedly “exchanging sexually explicit text messages,” according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
The athlete, in a social media post, bravely published Friday morning a statement that read: “Keep our athletes safe,” and “As a community let’s do better to keep sports safe.” She continued: “Not only did this man hurt me deeply and ruin my love for field hockey but also inflicted harm on many others.”
Clay coached for the Centercourt Club. When the charges were announced, his name was removed from the club’s website as one of its coaches. The charges brought against him stem from a texting exchange that happened in March between Clay and the teenager.
The family handed over emails and text messages to police at that time, according to the affidavit. The teenager was then interviewed by detectives in the Child Advocacy Center from the Special Victim’s Unit.
Investigators discovered that they were communicating in private text messages and not in a team group text between mid-December and early March, according to the affidavit.
Police have evidence that Clay sent messages that became “sexual in nature,” where he “offered the victim money in exchange for sexually explicit images.” The affidavit states that he offered her $1,000 for a sexually explicit video.
An investigation was conducted by detectives from the Bridgewater Police Department and detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victim’s Unit. As a result, Clay was arrested.
Following his arrest, USA Field Hockey filed a report with SafeSport in early April. He was placed on “temporary suspension” for reasons of “allegations of misconduct.” In late April, his status changed to “ineligible” and the misconduct was noted as “criminal disposition involving a minor.”
To learn more about how to protect athletes and how to respond, please visit this link on misconduct.
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