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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A popular golf coach in Northern California has been charged with child molestation after allegedly sexually assaulting multiple boys during a three-year period, authorities said.
Andrew Michael Nisbet, of Livermore, did not enter plea on Tuesday in Alameda County Superior Court after he was charged with 65 felonies, including lewd acts with a child and oral copulation of a child.
He was arrested Saturday while he was working at the Las Positas Golf Course in Livermore, about 40 miles east of San Francisco, said Officer Steve Goard, a Livermore police spokesman.
Nisbet is a well-respected golf instructor and his arrest came a day before he was to receive the PGA's Northern California Section 2013 Junior Golf Leader Award for his work with young golfers, Goard said. The charges against Nisbet mostly stem from allegedly sexually assaulting two boys between the ages of 12 and 17 from 2009 to 2012, Goard said.
"(Nisbet) created this coach-athlete bond with these young men and gave them rides to and from practice and bought them top-of-the-line golf equipment," Goard said Wednesday. "He clearly used that to his advantage. He had pretty evil intentions and he exercised them."
During an interview with investigators shortly after his arrest, Nisbet admitted to some of the lewd acts on his students, Goard said.
Nisbet's attorney, Timothy Rien of Livermore, did not immediately return a call for comment on Wednesday.
Nisbet allegedly performed oral sex with the students in his home and his car while showing them pornography on his computer and mobile devices, Goard said. Other acts allegedly occurred in the golf course's parking lot and during out-of-town golfing trips, Goard added.
When the victims made efforts to stop Nisbet's alleged abuse, the perks stopped, Goard said. Police learned about Nisbet after one of his golf students reported the alleged incidents last month, Goard said.
Since Nisbet's arrest, investigators have discovered a third alleged victim and possibly a fourth, Goard said. Nisbet has also trained students in Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi and North Carolina, Goard said.
Nisbet is being held in jail without bail and is due back in court on Jan. 15, Alameda County Assistant District Attorney Teresa Drenick said Wednesday.
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