Former Jay Basketball Coach Pleads Guilty To Raping, Molesting Teen Player

A former Jay High School basketball coach has pleaded guilty to rape and molestation of a 15-year-old girl.

Cory Henton, 39, entered his plea on Thursday to 20 felony charges in Delaware County, including 16 counts of lewd molestation, two counts of rape in the second degree, and one count each of pattern of criminal offenses and soliciting sexual conduct or communication with a minor by the use of technology in Delaware and Oklahoma counties.

He will serve 15 years in prison, followed by 30 years of probation supervised by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, and he will be required to register as a sex offender, records show. His crimes require that he serves 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for release.

The child was a player on Henton’s basketball team.

News On 6 previously reported Henton first told the Jay principal there was a rumor going around school about him and a student. The next day, the principal and a Jay police officer asked him to come back to the office to be interviewed, but Henton reportedly said he wouldn’t talk without a lawyer.

An affidavit says three students went to the principal and told them they went to the open gym event and said they became “suspicious of Henton and the student's actions and began to watch the two close.”

The students said when it was time to leave they waved as if they were going to leave, but they went back to the gym. The report says they didn't see the two, but remembered them being near the equipment room. They said when they tried to open the door they couldn't.

According to the report, the students said when Henton and the girl came out, she was “obviously embarrassed, red faced and was panting.”

The principal said he later found school surveillance video supporting the students' story.

Officers said they interviewed the 15 year old and she admitted to kissing Henton in his office, at the school arena and while on a basketball trip to Oklahoma City.

The report says the student told them each incident was kissing and that Henton never touched her inappropriately. She told police that he made her feel special and she could talk to him about anything and that they said they loved each other.