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Raleigh sex offender didn't violate probation, judge finds

A Raleigh sex offender who once coached girls' softball did not violate terms of his plea agreement when he showed up in the same public places as some of his teenaged victims, a Wake County judge ruled Thursday.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — A Raleigh sex offender who once coached girls' softball did not violate terms of his plea agreement when he showed up in the same public places as some of his teenaged victims, a Wake County judge ruled Thursday.

Raymond Lamar Green, 43, received a suspended prison sentence of 16 to 29 months and 36 months of probation after he pleaded guilty in 2012 to taking indecent liberties with a minor – charges involving five of his players, ages 14 and 15.

The terms of his probation, however, prohibit him from having any contact with the victims or their family members.

Prosecutors told Superior Court Judge Howard Manning that Green broke the conditions of his sentence last month when he didn't leave a car dealership when he saw one of the victim's fathers.

Green, of 10116 Second Star Court, admitted to Manning that he didn't immediately leave the dealership but that he told the salesman he was talking to that he had to leave the building so as not to be under the same roof with the father.

"I did what I thought was right," he said. "I left the building."

He stayed outside and looked at a few cars and left at a manager's request, Green testified. He said he called his probation officer and was told, "If I was under the same roof, I was in contact."

Manning found that Green didn't "willfully violate the terms of his probation," noting that nothing was ever written down concerning the definition of "contact."

"Instead of hiding it, he reported it immediately to his probation officer," Manning told Assistant District Attorney April Taylor. "I don't know what else you would expect the man to do."

She, however, called it a "no-brainer."

"It's been explained to him multiple times," she said, referring to a four-weekend jail sentence he received in 2013 after he failed to leave a Chili's restaurant where one of his victims had been.

In that case, Green stayed and ate, he said, because he didn't speak with her and thought it was OK.

Green, who remains on probation, has been listed with the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry since Dec. 18, 2012, and is required to stay on the list for a minimum of 10 years.

Family members of the victims were upset by Manning's ruling.

"Ray got another slap on the hands and was sent on his way," one of the victims' fathers said. "What about our children? Who stands up for our children? So far, it's not this courtroom."

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