North Highlands coach arrested for child sexual assault while awaiting sentencing

A man who once served as assistant coach of a North Highlands youth recreational basketball team was arrested on two counts of child sexual assault Friday while in custody awaiting sentencing in another case for similar charges.

Gregory Kosanke, 57, was found guilty in December of one count of lewd and lascivious conduct and a count of attempted lewd and lascivious conduct involving a child, both felonies, in a case based on an incident in 2016.

Kosanke was scheduled to appear in court for sentencing in connection with that case on Friday but instead was arrested on new charges -- two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor child under the age of 14, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department said in a press release. He is currently being held at the Sacramento County Main Jail without bail.

“They suspended the sentencing (on the first case) because of these new allegations,” Sheriff’s department spokesmen Shaun Hampton said Monday.

The sheriff’s department said that the cases are unrelated.

The former coach was arrested by Sacramento County Sheriff’s authorities following a March 2016 incident that allegedly occurred during a team event and involved the inappropriate touching of a 10-year-old girl.

Kosanke “sexually abused the young friend of one of his family members,” according to a news release by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.

Kosanke faced a maximum of 9 years in prison and was set to be sentenced Friday.

The Sacramento man had also worked as a radio personality in the region. Internet searches show that Kosanke used to DJ for KNCI 105.1, a country music station, using the nickname “Greg Kodiak.”

This story was originally published January 7, 2019 at 11:01 AM.