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Pitman coach extradited to S.J. County, faces child molestation charges
Derek Young arrestee
Derek Young

BY JOE CORTEZ

Turlock Journal


A Pitman High assistant wrestling coach has been extradited to San Joaquin County, where he’ll face child molestation charges stemming from incidents that allegedly occurred more than a decade ago, according to authorities.

Derek William Young, 41, was arrested Tuesday at 7:33 a.m. in the parking lot of Kaiser Permanente medical center in Modesto, where he is an employee.

According to San Joaquin County Jail booking information, Young faces three charges: continuous sexual abuse of child; lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14; and oral copulation with a child under 10 years of age, which carries a potential life sentence.

The alleged crimes occurred in Ripon more than 10 years ago and involve more than one victim, according to Sgt. Paul Staley of the Ripon Police Department, which is handling the investigation.

Young, a resident of Ceres, was booked into Stanislaus County Jail on Tuesday morning with bail set at $1.75 million. He was transported Friday afternoon and booked into San Joaquin County Jail at 3:46 p.m., and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

As of Friday evening, Young had not posted bail and was still in custody.

According to Marie Russell, Turlock Unified School District’s director of communications, Young was a paid walk-on coach at Pitman this season and last, and coached on a volunteer basis during the 2021-22 campaign. The district was notified of Young’s arrest on Wednesday.

“At this time, we have no indication that any TUSD student was harmed,” TUSD said in a statement. “All coaches in TUSD are required to pass an FBI and DOJ (Department of Justice) background check and be fingerprinted prior to working with students. We also receive updates from the FBI/DOJ if anyone commits a crime while in our employment. The safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority, and we encourage anyone with information to please contact law enforcement.”

Young was listed as a classified substitute in the Ceres Unified School District from 2017 to 2018 and 2020 to 2021, according to TransparentCalifornia.com.

Prior to his coaching at Pitman, Young was an assistant wrestling coach at Ceres High School and Mae Hensley Junior High School (Ceres).