Former West Salem coach pleads guilty to sex abuse

The nearly year-long sexual abuse case against a former assistant girls basketball coach at West Salem High School is finally coming to an end, as Emrance Berger appeared in Polk County Circuit Court Tuesday to plead guilty to sexually abusing a player on the team.

Berger had initially been scheduled for a two-day bench trial before Judge Sally Avera, set to begin Tuesday.

But instead, just days after a settlement hearing was held, Berger agreed to plead guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and no contest to another count of the same charge.

In return, a sodomy charge and multiple other sexual abuse charges were dismissed.

The case started in February, when Salem Police announced that they had arrested Berger on accusations that he had a sexual relationship with a female basketball player.

Reaction in the community was almost unanimously shock. Berger had been employed by the Salem-Keizer School District as a coach since 2012 and worked for several years prior to that as a volunteer. Many were appalled by the allegations, and a number of people who knew Berger personally were swift to come to his defense.

According to court records obtained by the Statesman Journal, the victim gave a statement to Salem Police Det. Jeff Staples on Feb. 11 detailing the abuse, which occurred in 2013 when she was under 18 years of age.

In the statement, the girl described going on a driving lesson with Berger, who instructed her to drive to his house. There, he "took (her) clothes off, kissed her, touched her breasts and vaginal area, digitally penetrated her and orally sodomized her. That after, (Berger) told her not to tell anyone or he would go to jail."

The girl went on to describe other incidents, including several times when Berger touched her vaginal area and kissed her while she was watching a movie in his office. She also described how Berger would ask her sexually-charged questions, ask about boyfriends and become angry if she didn't respond.

"(She) told Jeff Staples that (Berger) would threaten (her) with exposing their relationship ... that (Berger) threatened to commit suicide if (she) ended the relationship," court records read.

Additionally, Berger was accused of having sex with another victim, between Jan. 1 and Nov. 7 of 2007.

This second girl approached Salem Police shortly after the Statesman Journal first reported Berger's arrest in February. Now in her early 20's, she told police that she had also been sexually abused by Berger when she was a student at West High.

She claimed that she and Berger, while he was her coach, had begun a sexual relationship when she was 17 years old, which continued past her 18th birthday.

But while Berger pleaded guilty to charges involving the first victim, he pleaded no contest to the allegations brought by the second victim.

Berger's case has brought West Salem High School under scrutiny, raising questions about whether other coaches or school administrators were aware of inappropriate relationships between Berger and female team members.

The answers remained unclear Tuesday.

But court records show that Berger's defense attorney, in preparing for the previously scheduled trial, sought to find out if any records or statements had been made complaining of abuse.

Subpoenas were issued to West Salem's athletic director Bryan Sutherland, school behavior specialist Terra Yates and to the Polk County Department of Human Services.

The defense was looking for records — family background information, placement assessments, behavioral assessments, psychological evaluations, incident reports, and daily reports.

And in April, Berger and his attorney filed a motion to compel the Salem-Keizer School District to produce "all records pertaining to (both victims) ... including, but not limited to, any and all notes taken by any West Salem High School representative concerning allegations of sexual abuse by (Berger), or statements made by an (sic) of the above referenced individuals concerning sexual abuse."

Luke Reese, an attorney for the school district, responded to the subpoenas. He claimed that he had reviewed the requested records, and found that they didn't relate to the case.

"I have reviewed those student records and have not identified any reference to Mr. Berger, or any allegations of abuse or misconduct of any kind," Reese said in a statement. "I have informed Mr. Berger's attorney that the requested student records do not relate to his client or the subject of this case."

Prosecutors chimed in, conceding that Berger was "entitled to any materials regarding an investigation by West Salem High School into complaints of inappropriate conduct between (Berger) and the victim in this case.

"It is known that West Salem High School did interview (the victim) in January of 2014 and at the time it was denied that there was any abuse occurring," the state's response continued.

However, the prosecution denied giving Berger all of the requested documents, calling the motion "overbroad" and "tantamount to a fishing expedition."

The January interview is referenced at another point in the records, taken from a February police report, which details a conversation between Terra Yates and the victim. Yates had met with the victim in the administrative offices of West Salem High School and asked about some rumors of "weird contact" between Berger and the victim.

According to court records, the victim responded that, "This is ridiculous; parents have started these rumors up because of playing time."

Yates continued to press, asking the victim if their relationship had ever been "more than coach-athlete" and if she had ever "had any type of sexual contact or relations with Em Berger?"

The victim continued to deny the abuse, saying: "No, this is so dumb; it all started from people who are jealous."

Just last month, former girls' head coach Jason Unruh and another assistant girls' hoops coach, Jim White, voluntarily resigned without notice or explanation.

The Statesman Journal has filed public records request with the school district seeking communications records between school officials and players' parents.

Sentencing for Berger is scheduled for Friday.

lfosmire@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6709 or follow at Twitter.com/fosmirel