Police allege former high school girls basketball coach Richard Mousette exposed himself to teen girls

By MICHAEL MAJCHROWICZ

@mjmajchrowicz

Published: 04-06-2017 8:48 PM

NORTHAMPTON — At least six women have accused former Hampshire Regional High School girls basketball coach Richard Moussette of exposing himself to them individually on multiple occasions when they were high school students between 2009 and 2012, court documents show.

For more than a year, investigators pieced together their case against Moussette. Now, he is scheduled to return to court May 3, at which point prosecutors are expected to disclose any evidence that might help his defense.

In January, Moussette, 56, of Holyoke, had pleaded not guilty in Northampton District Court to six counts of open and gross lewdness. In February, his defense counsel argued to dismiss the charges against the former coach, and a judge allowed for one of the six counts to be dropped.

Moussette has vehemently denied the allegations during interviews with police. One of his attorneys, Shawn Allyn, declined comment Thursday.

The girls, who were ages 15 to 17 at the times of the incidents in question, were friends with one of Moussette’s daughters and would frequently have sleepovers at his Southampton home, according to court documents. In police reports, at least six girls submitted written statements in which they all described the same basic narrative: When the girls had to get up in the night to use the restroom, they would find Moussette standing in his bedroom doorway across the hall, completely nude — “posing.”

“If I had to put a count on how many times Mr. Moussette exposed himself to me I would say it was approximately eight times. It was enough times to know that towards the end he was like clockwork.

“In the mornings after sleeping over ... when I would use the bathroom he would be posing at the end of the hall in his doorway completely naked. I never dared make eye contact…,” one of the women wrote in her statement to police.

“Every time he exposed himself to me, he never moved, or said anything to me, he would just stand there,” wrote another.

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Eventually, some of the girls — fearful of an encounter with Moussette — reported they would only use the restroom in pairs, according to a police report.

“The next time I slept over I went to the bathroom with someone else and we could hear him jump out of bed as we entered the bathroom. We didn’t even look but the light was on and we ran back to the bonus room,” another woman wrote.

The women who came forward — some of whom were on high school athletic teams Moussette coached — told police they decided to make the disclosure to authorities in light of other criminal proceedings involving Moussette in Holyoke. They said they had kept quiet about the incidents until then because they did not want to upset their friend.

In October 2015, Moussette pleaded not guilty to two counts of open and gross lewdness after he was accused of masturbating in the Target store at the Holyoke Mall.

In December 2016, prosecutors dropped one of the counts, and the other was continued without a finding until December 2018 after Moussette admitted to sufficient facts. Moussette resigned his coaching position after the fall 2015 allegations were brought to light.

Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.

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