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California hoops coach arrested for ‘sadistic’ abuse of his own players

A disturbing incident has raised questions about an international boarding school in California where high school basketball players were reportedly given cruel, abusive punishments that local police have called “sadistic.”

As reported by Sacramento Fox affiliate WTXL, four student athletes at Roseville (Calif.) CCSE Preparatory School came forward to police to allege that their coach had abused them during workouts.

After an investigation, 24-year-old CCSE basketball coach Francis Ngissah was arrested on suspicion of child abuse involving cruel corporal punishment and willful cruelty, battery and false imprisonment, all related to how he treated his student athletes in practices.

“They were punished, and had to stand in the corner for an extended period of time, with their hands and feet bound by zip-ties,” Roseville Police Sergeant Derin DeFreece told WTXL. “They also had clothes pins attached to their nipples.

“[It may not have been sexually related because] it seems more sadistic to us.”

If the allegations against the coach are true, they certainly are sadistic. According to WTXL, two additional players came forward alleging similar treatment to authorities after their teammates first went public with Ngissah’s abuse.

[Also: Player sidesteps dangerous trap of social media]

There has been no word of who would lead the CCSE team in Ngissah’s absence, though that hardly would seem a major concern when compared to the allegations of Ngissah’s past actions. In the meantime, the alleged incidents serve as the latest points of concern about small prep schools which groom a number of international basketball players, joining an ever-growing list.

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