Craig Debiase – The District Attorney

Former teacher, coach sentenced for sexually assaulting student

A former teacher and coach was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting one of his students.

Craig Debiase

Arapahoe District Court Judge John Scipione sentenced Craig Debiase, 57, on Oct. 16. He pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child, a Class 3 felony; other counts were dismissed as part of the plea agreement. Debiase is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for abusing another student at Bishop Machebeuf High School. The new sentence will run consecutive to the previous sentence.

“Another predator at a local school uses his position of trust and — disgustingly — his religious faith to manipulate and victimize another student. The undeniable courage of the victim in this case to come forward and face the adult who treated her like a body to be exploited made all the difference here,” said District Attorney George Brauchler. “I hope it inspires others to come forward who were victimized in their youth. There must be consequences for this selfish, destructive conduct. Our system can only sentence him to prison. The Almighty likely has many other resources.”

The victim was 17 years old when Debiase began a sexual relationship with her in 1997. She came forward in November 2019 to report the crime after she saw news reports of Debiase being sentenced for similar sex crimes against another juvenile victim.

“I was 17 when a likeable, charismatic and charming pedophile manipulated me, seduced me and rendered me silent. He was the baseball coach at my high school. His name is Craig Debiase,” the victim told the court in her impact statement submitted prior to sentencing.

She described how Debiase gained her trust and her silence. He started seeing her at his house during Bible studies; he bought her clothes and jewelry and took her to movies and out to dinner. At one point he even gave her an engagement ring.
“I now understand this was his way of grooming me,” the 40-year-old woman told the judge. “I now see that relationship as manipulation and abuse at the hands of an adult who worked at my school. …

“I now believe that Craig came to my school to seek out young girls to manipulate and abuse for his own sick satisfaction. Coming to this realization all these years later has triggered feelings of shame, humiliation, terrible anxiety and self-loathing,” she told the court in her statement. “It took another courageous victim to come forward and say how he abused her for me to finally see how wrong that situation I was in all those years ago really was. I am so grateful that she did. Craig can’t manipulate me anymore. I fear that there are other young women that Craig chose to victimize, and I hope that if they hear about me, they find the courage to speak up.”

Accusations about Debiase and other underage victims surfaced in 2005. He entered into a plea agreement and ultimately served less than two years in prison at that time. He was a registered sex offender and had completed “sex offender intensive supervised probation” when he was sentenced again in 2019.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Danielle Jaramillo prosecuted both cases against Debiase in Arapahoe County.

“This defendant not only used his position as a school teacher and coach, but he also used religion as a way to gain access to his victims. Over a 20-year span, this man made a career of preying on the vulnerable. The number of victims we have identified so far is astounding, and the deeper we dig the more we find. Thankfully, he is no longer in a position to continue hurting children,” Jaramillo said. “Parents deserve to know that when they send their children to school, those children will be safe.”

Coach gets prison for sexually assaulting student 17 years ago

It took 17 years, but a woman drew on her inner strength and told a judge what her coach had done to her life when he chose to rape her when she was 14 years old.

“It is impossible to address the lifelong impacts that come from being abused and manipulated,” the 31-year-old woman told Arapahoe District Court Judge John Scipione. “This was a debilitating relationship, all about control and manipulation. I was 31 before I was able to accept that what he did to me was not love but was rape.”

The woman was a student at Bishop Machebeuf High School when teacher and basketball coach Craig Debiase took her under his wing. He was 38 years old. The sexual abuse lasted for three years.

Craig Debiase

The woman described the ways Debiase took advantage of her and preyed on her. She told the judge how he inserted himself between her and her family and friends. Even after their contact ended, the damage done to her emotionally continued, she said.

Accusations about Debiase and other underage victims surfaced in 2005. He entered into a plea agreement and ultimately served less than two years in prison. He is a registered sex offender and successfully completed “sex offender intensive supervised probation.” He is on lifetime unsupervised probation.

The 31-year-old woman denied any involvement with Debiase in 2005. By Oct. 25, 2019, she was ready to confront him.

“He preyed on us,” she told Judge Scipione. “He is a repeat sex offender and has never been appropriately punished for what he has done.”

Senior Deputy District Attorney Danielle Jaramillo asked Scipione to sentence Debiase to 12 years, the maximum allowed under the plea agreement. Debiase pleaded guilty to attempted sexual exploitation of a child, a Class 4 felony.

“When parents send kids to school, they feel like this is at least one place they don’t have to worry about, where their child will be safe,” Jaramillo said. “But this teacher is the monster parents worry about.”

Debiase abused girls at the school for 12 years, she told the judge. “There are eight victims we know of, and this action deserves this punishment.”

The judge was harsh in his condemnation of Debiase’s actions and sympathetic to what the woman had endured.

“I am sure your statement barely scratches the surface,” Scipione told the woman.

Debiase “got a gift back in 2005,” the judge said. “He sought therapy and you lived in your own private hell these 17 years.”

He added: “This is despicable – some of the worst cases are in the name of the church and perpetrated against children. The maximum sentence is a no-brainer for me.”

District Attorney George Brauchler noted that this case is an example of why there is no statute of limitations for such crimes against children.

“Predators seek out safe places to have access to their victims, including our children,” Brauchler said. “They try to hide their lascivious actions by counting on the shame and guilt of their hand-picked victims, leaving them to struggle for the rest of their lives after the gross betrayal of trust. Here, it was only the courage of the victim — even 17 years later — that brought this child sex offender to justice. I hope justice for this victim helps in her healing process and serves as a light for others who have experienced the trauma of sexual assault.”