Former Shadow Hills Boys' Basketball Coach Ryan Towner Charged With Raping Teen Girl

INDIO (CBSLA) — A former Shadow Hills High School basketball coach accused of raping a teen girl remained free on bond Wednesday.

Ryan Leron Towner, 35, was charged last week with one felony count each of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old with force and unlawful intercourse with a minor after being arrested June 10 following an investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

According to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, the alleged crime happened between May and July 2018, though the sheriff's department said authorities opened the investigation this past April for conduct that allegedly occurred between August 2017 and July 2018.

The sheriff's department said Towner coached the girl on a travel basketball team, though the circumstances of the alleged rape were not immediately disclosed.

Towner coached the Shadow Hills boys' basketball team from 2018 through most of the 2021 season. In 2020, the Knights won the Division 3-A championship.

According to a report from the Desert Sun, Towner did not coach the team for its final 10 games this season and was fired by the Indio school a few days before his arrest, though it was not immediately clear whether his firing stemmed from the allegations.

Towner, who remained out of custody after posting a $55,000 bond, is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 12.

(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)