A former youth coach and University Place School District employee has been charged with multiple counts of child rape and molestation. Michael Joseph Basse, 59, was arrested on April 21 and appeared in Pierce County Superior Court on Monday. Basse faces eight counts of child rape and five counts of child molestation. In addition to being a youth baseball coach and martial arts instructor, Basse was an employee of the University Place School District from 2007 until he was terminated in 2016 after he was found to be making inappropriate comments and sending inappropriate messages to kids. However, the district said in a statement they do not have reason to believe he had inappropriate physical contact with students. Read the full story here: https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/former-university-place-coach-charged-child-rape-molestation/281-59214567-1a34-419e-a6b0-a3684528468d