Ex-Coach to Stand Trial in Sex Case

A 16-year-old Glendale girl testified Wednesday she and her former basketball coach had sex several times earlier this year--at his house in the San Gabriel Valley, in his car and at Ribet Academy, the Los Angeles private school she used to attend.

Based on testimony of a girl who was 15 when she said her relationship began with Paul Calvin Clark III, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Hegarty ordered the Duarte man to stand trial on three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and one count of oral copulation.

Clark, 34, had already pleaded not guilty to the charges and has been free on bond since his arrest in July.

He no longer works at Ribet, situated alongside the Glendale Freeway in Glassell Park.

The alleged sexual activity, described by the girl at a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Monrovia, was consensual, she said. She testified that she had a relationship with Clark from December 2000 until June.

Through his attorney, Clark maintains that the girl is infatuated with him and has been urged to lie by two women who coached at Ribet.

Attorney Robert M. Bernstein said he will prove at trial the women were bitter because Clark was promoted and they were not.

“This was a poor, troubled young lady who has been manipulated, who has been influenced and who has been lied to,” Bernstein said.

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Christina Weiss said she will establish that Clark has a “predatory sexual interest in young girls.”

Weiss said she will introduce evidence alleging Clark had sexual intercourse with two other students when he worked at other schools.

If convicted, Clark faces a maximum penalty of six years, eight months in state prison.