Former girls basketball coach sentenced to over 33 years for child sex crimes
By Jeremiah Estrada and Kimber Collins
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HONOLULU (KITV) — Former Punahou girls basketball coach Dwayne Yuen will spend more than 33 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a pattern of sexual abuse and harassment involving 10 victims over the course of nearly two decades.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Michael Seabright sentenced Yuen to 405 months in prison, followed by life on probation. He must also register as a sex offender.
Four victims spoke or submitted letters before the sentencing, many describing years of trauma and betrayal by a man once entrusted with their athletic futures.
“It was just a sigh of relief… finally,” one victim told Island News after the hearing.
Crimes Spanning 20 Years Yuen pleaded guilty in Dec. 2024 to child sex crimes against three minors. These include:
Sex trafficking a minor in 2005 and 2006
Coercing a minor into sexual activity in 2006
Producing, receiving and possessing child pornography from around 2020 to 2023
He also admitted to harassing victims through anonymous and obscene communications from 2021 to 2023.
The FBI arrested Yuen in Feb. 2023, and he has remained at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu ever since.
Grooming and Control Court documents and testimony described a pattern of grooming — gifts, meals and promises of athletic success — coupled with intimidation that made victims feel their basketball careers and college prospects depended on compliance.
Some allegations date back to the early 2000s, when Yuen was coaching both private club teams and public and private school programs on Oʻahu.
Inside the courtroom on Thursday, victims called Yuen “a monster” and “a silver-tongued devil” while urging the judge to impose the maximum sentence.
Judge’s Words and Survivors’ Resolve Judge Seabright told Yuen he believed nothing would change if he were released today, calling him “a predator with a whistle.”
Yuen addressed the court, apologizing to his mother and his victims, saying, “No woman, especially younger women, should feel pressured or manipulated.”
After the sentencing, survivor Shawna-lei Keuhu said:
“We’re going to go ahead and continue our lives and continue to empower youth… continue to be the change we want to see.”
The victims also placed blame on those who knew about Yuen’s behavior and remained silent, saying they are “equally to blame.”
Punahou School provided the following statement before the sentencing:
“Punahou is grateful that justice will be served in this case and we stand with the survivors of abuse. We are committed to student safety and helped lead the creation of the Harm to Students Registry Law, the first of its kind in Hawai‘i. Managed by the DOE, the registry requires all public, private and charter schools to screen potential hires and share information to prevent individuals with histories of harming students from being hired by schools — helping to keep all of Hawai‘i’s keiki safer. We worked closely with the FBI throughout its investigation of Yuen and thank them for their work in protecting the children of our state.”
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