Coach prohibited from contacting team after Internet solicitation arrest

ARVADA – A girls' basketball coach is being asked not to contact his team after being arrested for Internet solicitation, according to a school spokeswoman.

Maranatha Christian Center spokeswoman Patricia Loser says the Pueblo Police contacted the Arvada school on Tuesday to notify them that girls' varsity basketball coach, 53-year-old Duane Beery, was arrested for Internet solicitation.

A detective with the Pueblo Police Department says Beery had been chatting with an undercover officer, whom the coach believed was a girl under the age of 15, for two-and-a-half months, beginning on Nov. 12, 2007.

According to the detective, Beery used the screen name "highaltitudediver12000" and identified himself as a 48-year-old seeking sex with an underage girl. Beery also said during the chats that he knew police were out trying to catch people, police say.

Beery, who was arrested on Monday in Pueblo, said in online chats that he wanted to give the person he thought was an underage teen a bubble bath and use whip cream and chocolate syrup, which he brought with him, according to authorities.

The school says it gathered the girls' varsity basketball team and notified them of the allegations immediately. Loser says the reaction was "total, complete, utter shock." She says none of the girls, ages 14 to 18, reported ever being the recipient of any inappropriate behavior from Beery.

Loser says Beery was in his first year at the school, but was an experienced coach with at least 12 years of prior coaching on his resume.

Citing a concern for the girls' safety, the school says it has decided to prohibit contact between Beery and the team unless he is cleared of the charges. Loser says they have not yet spoken with Beery about the allegations or the school's action.

A spokeswoman for Arvada Police say they are also investigating Beery to see if any crimes were committed in Arvada, but say at this time, there is no evidence of such crimes.

Beery was charged with criminal attempt sex assault on a child, Internet luring and Internet luring with intent.

Maranatha Christian Center is located at 7180 Oak St. in Arvada.