Ex-Football Coach Sentenced on Sex Charges

Carefully avoiding eye contact with the adopted daughter who accused him, a popular former Corona del Mar High School football coach was sentenced Friday to five years and eight months in state prison for having sex with the teenager as “payments” for poor grades, clothing purchases and permission to go on dates.

Mark Aubrey Schuster, 49, received close to the maximum possible sentence of six years. Schuster was convicted earlier this month of 16 counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and a single charge of oral copulation with a minor.

In stern comments before handing down the sentence, Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard M. Aronson said he had no doubt that the jury had delivered a just verdict. The judge said Schuster’s “self-gratification robbed this child of her innocence and her trust. That was despicable.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Claudia Silbar argued forcefully for the maximum six-year sentence.

“When it comes down to it, this is a horrendous crime,” Silbar said. “He has divided two families and affected a young woman for the rest of her life.”

During the trial, the daughter said Schuster increasingly demanded sex as “payments,” sometimes using handcuffs or a bathrobe belt to bind her. Schuster was arrested after police set up taped conversations with the daughter.

During a search of the Schuster home, police seized handcuffs, a bathrobe belt anchored to a pipe behind the bed and photographs. Blood-typing and DNA tests were used as evidence in the case.