Updated: Ex-Oakmont track coach sentenced for sex abuse

AUBURN – A former track coach at Oakmont High School in Roseville was sentenced Wednesday to three years and eight months in state prison for nine felony counts including lewd acts upon a child.Dionysios Yuri Shallan Jr., who also served as a coach at Casa Roble High School in Sacramento before coming to Oakmont in 2001, pleaded guilty to the charges Oct. 29. They stemmed from sex acts committed on two underage female track athletes, one an Oakmont student and the other from Casa Roble, that occurred between late-1999 and April 2005, officials said."We view the convicted felon as a manipulator," prosecutor Garen Horst told Judge J. Richard Couzens before the sentencing.Shallan, of Rocklin, has no prior criminal history. In addition to coaching, he was a substitute teacher for the Roseville Joint Union High School District, officials said. Wednesday's development follows other legal troubles for Shallan relating to youth sexual abuse.In 2005, the Placer County District Attorney's Office charged Shallan with misdemeanor child abuse involving two other Oakmont students. That case resulted in a mistrial in April 2007.But prosecutors kept working the case, and additional victims were later identified, resulting in the felony charges issued Sept. 5. "We kept the investigation going and that led to a stronger case," he said. Shallan has not been employed with the district since shortly before the misdemeanor charges were filed in 2005. He has been in custody in the Placer County Jail since then. Shallan also pleaded guilty in October to one count of perjury relating to testimony he gave in the misdemeanor trial.Dressed in jail-issue orange garb, Shallan sat shackled and expressionless Wednesday as victims' representatives made statements before the judge and urged a stronger sentence.One victim's mother excoriated Shallan for violating the trust between athlete and coach: "You used that opportunity to prey on vulnerabilities and their personal trust in you for your pleasure," said the woman, who is not being identified to protect the victims' privacy. "You are the quintessential sexual predator."Horst told the court Shallan was without remorse."He violated the trust of the school he worked for," he said. The charges included four counts of oral copulation, two counts of lewd acts upon a child with a 10-year age difference, and one count of sexual penetration with a foreign object. Couzens handed down the maximum sentence of three years for those counts, to be served concurrently. Another count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor added eight months to that total.Oakmont Principal Kathleen Sirovy said the school initiated the investigation into allegations that became the misdemeanor case. Shallan resigned after that inquiry started and was subsequently banned from campus, she said."Oakmont initiated and cooperated fully with the families and law enforcement throughout this investigation," she said in a statement. "We are pleased that we have reached closure and that justice has been served."In a 2002 interview on DyeStatCal.com, a track and field Web site, Shallan credited for his faith in God for his "strength" and said: "Coaching helped me to see the passion I had had all my life. It gave me the opportunity to help others. It is the most gratifying thing in the world to do."As part of his sentence, Shallan will also register for parole for three years after his term ends. He must also register as a sex offender.