South Florida youth track coach gets 50 years in prison in teen molestation case

A former South Florida youth track coach convicted of molesting a 14-year-old back in 2010 was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Tuesday.

Darius Tremayne Lawshea, 51, had been found guilty last month in the incident involving a student from Miami Carol City Senior High School in Miami Gardens.

Lawshea had been the longtime head coach of Miami Gardens Xpress Track and Field, which provides organized track and field programs to children from 5 to 18 years of age, according to its website.

The victim said Lawshea had sex with her three times, including twice in his car and once at his apartment, when she was spending the night there because they had a track meet early the next morning, an arrest report said.

Lawshea wasn’t arrested until 2020 and the girl said she “never disclosed what happened because she was fearful because Mr. Lawshea was loved by everyone in the community and she didn’t want to get in trouble,” the report said.

At sentencing on Tuesday, the victim addressed Lawshea and told him about how he groomed her in order to take advantage of her.

“I felt dirty and shamed,” the victim stated.

Despite the abuse forcing her to step away from track in college, the woman mentioned how she’s been finally able to get back to running after “finding the little girl” that had been hurt.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Andrea Wolfson described Lawshea’s actions as “egregious manipulation of a baby girl who believed in you.”

Lawshea has several similar cases involving other victims that are still pending.