BOSTON, MA (PIX11) -- Former Christ the King men's basketball coach Bob Oliva finally admitted to accusations of molesting his players, pleading guilty Monday in a Boston courtroom.
Oliva will receive five years of probation after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a then fourteen-year-old player, James Carlino, in Boston during the summer of 1976.
Carlino, now 49 years old, claims he was molested by Oliva on that trip to watch the Yankees play the Red Sox, and at least 100 other times after that.
Carlino had filed a $20 million dollar lawsuit in Queens County, New York against Oliva, Christ King Regional High School, the Catholic Youth Organization and the Diocese of Brooklyn among others.
Because the abuse happened so long ago, the suit could only happen in Massachusetts where state law dismisses the statute of limitations if a defendant is from out of state.
Oliva must now register as a sex offender, wear a GPS device and is not allowed to coach or have unsupervised contact with a child under 16, according to his defense attorney Michael Doolin.
Doolin told PIX 11, "These allegations are from 35 years ago, no criminal record, 5 years probation is a reasonable result.
He claimed the sexual abuse occurred over a four-year period when Carlino played youth basketball at St. Teresa of Avila Parish and St. Mary Gate of Heaven Parish, both in Queens, NY. Carlino says the abuse happened between the ages of 12 and 16 years old while Oliva was his coach. Carlino's attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, adds Oliva was very close to the family and Carlino's godfather.
"Mr. Carlino wants to know why the supervisors didn't do anything to prevent this abuse from happening," Garabedian said.
Carlino only recently divulged his claims, according to the complaint.
Garabedian says two other men have come forward with similar allegations of sexual abuse, including a former professional baseball player who played in New York City for "a short period of time".
Oliva put Christ the King's basketball program on the map with 549 wins and five titles during his 27 seasons. He resigned in 2009 citing heart problems by the then-allegations.
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