South Bay girls basketball coach charged with rape

and Caroline Anderson

The recently-appointed head coach of the West Torrance High School girls basketball team was arrested at Manhattan Beach Middle School this morning and charged with the forcible rape of an underage girl.

Timothy Lee Lucas, 31, was apprehended by the Hermosa Beach Police Department on the middle school campus at 9:20 a.m. and charged with one felony count of forcible rape and one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor under 16 years of age.

Lucas, a Cypress resident, has worked at local high schools including Mira Costa, Torrance West and Bishop Montgomery, as well as Manhattan Beach Middle School. He was hired as the head coach of the girls’ varsity basketball team at West Torrance just last month. It’s unclear which school the victim, who has requested anonymity, attends.

The alleged assault took place roughly one-and-a-half years ago at a private residence in Hermosa Beach, HBPD said. The victim and her parents came forward to the HBPD on May 22, when they called officers to their home to report the crime.

“This has been rapidly evolving,” said HPBD Sergeant Robert Higgins.

Manhattan Beach Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews said Wednesday that it was the first he had heard about the incident. Lucas has been an instructional assistant at Manhattan Beach Middle School since September, according to Principal John Jackson. Matthews said that Lucas would be placed on administrative leave.

“All of us in education want to protect the safety of our students, so we want to find out what happened and remediate the situation,” Matthews said.

West Torrance High officials were not immediately available for comment.

Lucas is being held on $200,000 bail. He will have a court appearance later this week, Higgins said, when his arraignment will be scheduled. If convicted, the charges carry a minimum sentence of eight years in prison.

Higgins said it’s unclear whether there are additional victims, and that anybody with additional information should contact HBPD Detective Dean Garkow at (310) 318-0348 or HBPD Detective Jonathan Cruz at (310) 318-0332.

“If this guy’s victimized other kids, they have to come forward so justice can be served,” he said.

Additional reporting for this story was done .