HONOLULU (KHON2) — The former youth basketball coach, Dwayne Yuen, who pleaded guilty to child exploitation and harassment, will be sentenced this Thursday, Aug. 14, in Federal Court.
Prosecutors are asking that Yuen be sentenced to 40 years in prison for his crimes of making harassing phone calls and sending threatening messages to multiple victims.
Yuen began to coach girls’ basketball in 2003, working with youth across the islands.
In 2006, he received multiple restraining orders from victims who were minors.
Yuen was arrested and detained in February 2023.
In December of 2024, Yuen pleaded guilty to 12 counts involving 10 victims. These charges include sex trafficking of a minor, coercing and enticing a minor, child pornography and harassment.
Multiple victims and community members provided letters for the Court describing the impact of Yuen.
One of the letters said, “There may be no physical scars, the emotional wounds are deep, long-lasting, and often invisible to the outside world. They don’t fade with time and they don’t go away… I’ve spent years trying to heal, to feel normal again, and reclaim the parts of me that were lost. But the truth is, I will never [be] the same.”
Many other victims had similar accounts of their experience with Yuen.