Liam Glascott fronts court over alleged sexual offending

A decorated basketball coach has been charged with a raft of alleged sexual offending, including rape, that allegedly took place in Melbourne’s northwest.

Former Keilor Thunder Basketball head coach and high performance manager Liam Glascott has been stood down after being charged with a raft of sexual offences.

A basketball coach accused of sexual offending has had a win in court after a magistrate ordered Victoria Police to pay costs for delays in providing documents to prepare his defence.

Liam Glascott, 35, who had a decorated basketball career and was a former coach of Keilor Thunder Basketball Club, has been charged with seven offences including two counts of rape, four counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual activity directed.

He made a brief appearance for a committal mention in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday via a zoom link but the case couldn’t proceed as his lawyer Andrew Halphen was still waiting for documents from police.

Mr Halphen said he had no quibble with a six-week adjournment requested by the prosecution.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge described the unnecessary delay as “disgraceful” and ordered the chief commissioner of Victoria Police pay costs as agreed between both parties.

Liam Glascott is back in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in May for a further committal mention.

Mr Glascott has been remanded on bail to appear on May 2 for further committal mention.

He had been stood down from coaching amid a police investigation that involved detectives interviewing a man as part of an investigation into an alleged sexual assault in Keilor East in July.

“Detectives have been told the incident occurred at a home in Keilor East, sometime during the evening of July 20 and 21, while people known to one another were gathered at a home,” police said in August last year.

The former Keilor Thunder basketball coach started playing the sport at a young age, with his passion taking him to the rep level for both Melton and Keilor teams.

Mr Glascott’s most recent role at Keilor Thunder Basketball was coaching the NBL1 Camp – a role the basketball team was “excited” for him to be involved in.

He was also the club’s high performance manager.

In August, the club posted a statement to its Instagram and Facebook pages, advertising vacancies for the positions Mr Glascott had at Keilor Thunder.

In a previous statement from Keilor Basketball Association (KBA) earlier this year, the club acknowledged it had received a “formal grievance” on July 23 regarding conduct involving an employee.

“The employee was stood down the same day pending further investigation,” a spokesman said.

“Following initial review into the matter, KBA confirms that this person was dismissed from any active roles at the association on August 9.”

Staff and volunteers working at the club must adhere to its child protection policy, which includes having a valid Working with Children Check.