Former leading figure in Irish basketball faces sex assault charges in US

A US basketball player, who was a leading force in the game in Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s both as a coach and player, has been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl he was coaching in his native South Carolina.

Anthony Jenkins, who enjoyed long stints with both Blue Demons in Cork and Notre Dame in Dublin, has been charged in the US with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

The alleged victim started getting lessons from Anthony Jenkins in 2007 when she was 14. Local media said she had told detectives in Spartanburg County that the abuse started shortly after the coaching began and continued in different locations, including his home, until 2012 when she turned 18.