Jaydon Beveridge: Further delay in junior basketball coach‘s grooming case

More details have emerged about the disgusting behaviour of the son of a highly-regarded Australian basketball coach who groomed two underage girls on Snapchat.

An Illawarra basketball coach who coerced two underage girls to send him naked content on Snapchat fronted court on Friday.

Jaydon Beveridge, the 24-year-old son of highly-regarded Australian basketball coach Rob Beveridge, was set to be sentenced after previously pleading guilty to one count of inciting a person under 16 to commit an act of indecency and one count of intentionally inciting a child older than 10 and under 16 years to carry out a sexual act.

It was the second Friday in succession Beveridge was scheduled to be sentenced with Magistrate Michael Ong adjourning last week in order to consider the “not complex” matter.

However, in a further hiccup, a sentencing assessment report was yet to be finalised on Friday with Magistrate Ong making a further one-week adjournment.

Police raided Beveridge’s West Wollongong residence, where he lives with his mother and father, in June 2020 where they seized a number of electronic items for forensic examination before arresting him at Wollongong Command a month later.

The first charge stemmed over 18 months from April 2017 to November 2018 and involved a girl who was 14 and 15 years old.

The second charge occurred over 11 months in 2019 and involved a 15-year-old girl.

Former Illawarra basketball coach Jaydon Beveridge leaving Wollongong Courthouse on Friday. Picture: Dylan Arvela

The court heard Basketball NSW conducted an internal investigation into the matter just a month prior to police storming the Beveridge abode.

Crown prosecutor Nicole Johnson outlined some of the vile behaviour Beveridge engaged in including pestering a 14 and 15-year-old on Snapchat to “send cheeky pics” for months before she relented and sent a photo in her bra with the offending snowballing from there.

Ms Johnson described Beveridge as being “reasonably high up” in the ranks of Illawarra Basketball, with the now-traffic controller once seen as ”well-respected” and in a ”position of authority”.

She also rejected the defence’s stance that Beveridge was completely remorseful given he has told police he thought the victims were 16 or 17 in an attempt to “minimise his offending” with Ms Johnson stating it was ”highly unlikely” he didn’t know the girls’ ages.

The defence put forward Beveridge‘s poor mental health, citing a three-week stint in a psychiatric hospital on the eve of his arrest.

A psychological report noted comments from Beveridge‘s mother, Suzy Ellen, suggesting this type of behaviour has been “culturally normalised” and was “rife in the community”.

Jaydon Beveridge (left) pictured with his father, former Illawarra Hawks coach, Rob Beveridge. Picture: Facebook

The adjournment came after a revelationary email from the Illawarra Basketball Association’s Board of Directors to its members about the case.

“As you may be aware there have been recent media reports surrounding court proceedings involving a former IBA member Jaydon Beveridge,” the email said.

“He pleaded guilty to involving unlawful conduct.

“Should any of our current or former members require any form of assistance regarding these matters or any similar types of matters please contact our General Manager at [e-mail] or Basketball NSW on [e-mail].”