BROOMFIELD — Juveniles may be banned from some portions of a former Broomfield High School wrestling coach’s trial because the testimony will be sexually graphic, a district judge said today.
Prosecutors filed a motion during a pre-trial conference this morning seeking to ban kids from the courtroom during sexually graphic testimony expected in the sexual assault case against Travis Masse, 29.
Broomfield District Court Judge Thomas Ensor did not rule on the motion, but stated for the record that he was inclined to agree that juveniles should not be present for some of the testimony, DA’s spokewoman Krista R. Flannigan said.
Masse was head coach of Broomfield High’s wrestling team from 2005 to 2009, and led the team to the Class 4A title in his final year. He resigned from Broomfield High in February 2010.
Masse is accused of felony sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, a class four felony, and sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust-pattern of abuse, a class three felony.
Police say Masse had repeated sexual contact with a 17-year-old student throughout the 2008-09 school year. She told police Masse began talking to her about sex when she was 15 and sent her several sexually explicit text messages and a nude photograph of himself to her cell phone while she was enrolled in school.
The student also told police she never bothered to complete any assignments in Masse’s history class because she “knew (she) was getting an A,” according to a Broomfield police arrest affidavit.
A third charge — attempted unlawful sexual contact with a child, a class five felony — was filed against Masse in March after a second alleged victim came forward, prosecutors said.
Masse’s attorney, Pamela Mackey — who represented NBA star Kobe Bryant in his sex assault case in Eagle County — earlier this month argued successfully for the third charge against Masse to be tried separately. That case is scheduled for trial May 23.
However, Ensor ruled that evidence related to all three charges could be used in both trials.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
