Yough High School baseball coach accused of asking boy for explicit photos

An alleged prank involving pornographic texts has resulted in criminal charges being filed against a former Yough High School junior varsity baseball coach.

Casey Michael Gilkey, 45, of South Huntingdon is accused by state police of using a female alias to request that a teenage boy text message him pictures of the boy's genitals.

Gilkey was charged Friday with child pornography, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors. He is free on $10,000 unsecured bond.

Gilkey declined to comment and referred questions to his attorney, Ashley Lovelace, who dismissed reports of the alleged incident as “not only inaccurate, but misleading.”

“My client never had any interest in or intent to obtain any nude photographs,” Lovelace said. “There never was such an interest and never will be one. I am confident that the evidence and testimony will vindicate my client from these baseless accusations.”

District Superintendent Janet Sardon said Gilkey was a volunteer coach. He is not a teacher.

“Yough has the student safety and well-being as a priority in all circumstances,” she said. “School is over. He is not volunteering now.”

According to an affidavit of probable cause, members of Yough's baseball team were eating in Dino's Sports Lounge in Unity after a game April 1. The alleged victim told police a waitress passed him a piece of paper with a phone number and the name “Alexis” on it.

On the bus ride home, the teen started a text message conversation with “Alexis,” and the pair continued to chat the next day, he told police.

On a bus ride to a baseball game, team members asked the teen to request nude photographs from “Alexis,” according to the complaint.

“ ‘Alexis' replied if he would send a picture, she would send one back,” Trooper Joseph Lauricia wrote in the complaint. “At some point during the text message conversation, ‘Alexis' asked how big his penis was.”

When the teen returned home, he texted a picture of his genitals to “Alexis,” and she allegedly questioned the size, according to police.

The teen told police he sent a second photo, this time including a tape measure, according to the complaint.

Another baseball coach, who was not identified in the criminal complaint, later told the teen and investigators that “Alexis” was Gilkey playing a prank, police said.

Lauricia wrote in the complaint that Gilkey admitted posing as “Alexis” and texting the teen.

A preliminary hearing for Gilkey is scheduled for June 22 before District Judge Charles Christner in Rostraver.

Gilkey has had brushes with the law.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of negligent operation of a watercraft as a result of an incident on May 26, 2012, in Perry Township.

He was cited with two counts of disorderly conduct related to an incident the same day in Perryopolis. He pleaded guilty to those citations, according to court records.

He pleaded guilty to a harassment citation in 2009 stemming from an incident in South Huntingdon, court records show.

Renatta Signorini is a Trib Total Media staff writer. She can be reached at 724-837-5374 or rsignorini@tribweb.com.