Ian King: former cricket coach pleads guilty to historical child sex charges

Former professional cricket player and junior coach Ian King has pleaded guilty to child sex charges. Find out what happened.

A former professional cricket player and junior coach - and convicted paedophile - has pleaded guilty to two historical child sex offences.

Ian Harold King, 79, was committed to the ACT Supreme Court by Magistrate Robert Cook on Monday after entering guilty pleas to two counts of an act of indecency to a child aged 10 to 16 years.

The charges relate to a single male complainant who played cricket via ACT Cricket from the late 1990s to the late 2000s, attending the Ginninderra Cricket Club in Kippax where King was a coach.

The facts state in the late 1990s , when the boy was 13, King picked him up for a one-on-one training session, and drove him to Phillip Oval where they trained for roughly 45 minutes.

King then drove the boy to Woden Plaza (Woden Westfield) for lunch where King told the boy he could show him certain muscle groups and areas of the body that need to be strengthened to become a better fast bowler.

Following this King drove the boy to his Lyons residence, and once in his apartment King directed the boy to stand in front of a full-length mirror.

King told the boy to remove his tracksuit pants, and later his shorts to make his muscles visible.

Ian King will be sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court.

The boy complied and stood before the mirror in his underwear.

King then leaned over the boy and touched his groin area and said words to the effect of “These are the muscles that you need to be strengthened because they all – they’re all interconnected with your bowling. So if they’re not strong, your core isn’t strong. Your core isn’t strong, your glutes aren’t strong, your hamstrings not strong”.

He then told the boy to remove his underwear, and after attempting to hide his genitalia with his hands King told him to stop.

King touched the boy’s groin again and said words to the effect of “Your groin needs to be strong because if your groin’s not strong, your quads aren’t strong”.

He asked the boy if he ever masturbated and told him, “Masturbating is good. It releases endorphins and chemicals which help with muscle development,” before groping the boy and moving his hand up and down the boy’s penis.

When the boy ejaculated King said words to the effect of “you must like it because you came”.

“There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s healthy, normal, natural, and it’s good for your development, muscle growth and strength,” he told the boy.

After the ordeal King asked the boy if he looked at porn before driving him home.

In 2012 King was convicted of 25 child sex offences relating to five complainants and was sentenced to 12 years jail.

King is remanded in custody until he appears at the ACT Supreme Court for sentencing.