A former basketball coach who preyed on young female athletes across Oahu schools received a harsh sentence Thursday that will likely keep him behind bars until 2059. Dwayne Yuen, 52, was sentenced to over 33 years in federal prison for exploiting and harassing at least ten victims over nearly two decades.
The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed that Yuen's pattern of abuse spanned from 2005 to 2023, targeting young female basketball players he coached at various public and private schools on Oahu, including the prestigious Punahou School. The specific charges included sex trafficking a minor, coercing minors to engage in sexual activity, and producing child pornography.
During Thursday's emotional sentencing hearing, survivors confronted their abuser directly. Shawna-Lei Kuehu, a former Punahou and University of Hawaii women's basketball standout, called Yuen "a monster" during her impact statement. KITV reported that inside the courtroom, victims called Yuen "a monster" and "a silver-tongued devil" while urging the judge to impose the maximum sentence.
A Pattern of Manipulation and Abuse
Court documents revealed that Yuen specifically targeted vulnerable victims, many dealing with financial or family hardships. TDPel Media detailed how he purchased elaborate gifts, spent inappropriate time alone with them, and gradually initiated sexual conversations, including sending explicit images. In the early 2000s, Yuen coerced sexual contact with victims as young as 15, using threats to damage their reputations and basketball careers if they resisted.
The manipulation extended beyond physical abuse. According to Townhall, Yuen also used unidentified phone numbers to send harassing messages to numerous former players, sometimes at the rate of a hundred times a day. Some victims endured threats of rape and death, blackmail, or physical assault.
Judge's Scathing Assessment
U.S. District Judge Michael Seabright was uncompromising in his description of Yuen, calling him "a predator with a whistle" and expressing doubt about any possibility of rehabilitation. I realize this might be a life sentence, Seabright said. But it's the right one. ABC17 News reported that the judge called Yuen's courtroom apology shallow and not truly remorseful.
The sentence includes 405 months in prison followed by lifetime supervised release. Beyond his prison sentence, Yuen must pay $3,000 in restitution to one victim and register as a sex offender. If granted supervised release, he will be prohibited from having any contact with children or victims and banned from places where children are present.
Punahou School Responds
Punahou School, located on Punahou Street in Honolulu, issued a statement addressing the institutional failures that allowed Yuen's abuse to continue. The school said it stands with survivors and highlighted its role in creating Hawaii's Harm to Students Registry Law. According to ABC17 News, the registry requires all schools to screen potential hires and share information to prevent individuals with histories of harming students from being hired.
The case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The Justice Department noted that the program marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children.
Yuen was arrested by the FBI in February 2023 and has been detained at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu since his arrest.
