A judge sentences a PB man to prison Tuesday for an attack on a 12-year-old girl over the summer.
Xia Wei Li, 29, was arrested in August after being accused of molesting the girl. On Tuesday, Judge Theodore Weathers sentenced Li -- who pleaded guilty to two counts of committing a lewd act on a child under 14 and admitted an allegation of substantial sexual conduct -- to six years in prison.
The victim's mother told Weathers that her "bubbly, gangly 12-year-old with a natural talent for volleyball" will never be the same.
Prior to sentencing, Li asked the victim's family for forgiveness.
"I'm not a bad person, but I made a bad choice at a very dark moment in my life," Li told Weathers.
Li was a coach at a volleyball camp held at the University of San Diego on June 21. Police said he led the San Bernardino girl to a secluded area on campus at 8:30 p.m., where he sexually assaulted the girl. She later told her parents, who contacted the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, and the information was given to local police, said officials with the San Diego Police Department.
Lt. Richard O'Hanlon, of SDPD's Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Division, said Li also worked at Epic Volleyball Club in Poway from 2006-08 and Coast Volleyball Club in Sorrento Valley from 2007-10. Li also coached at La Jolla Country Day School on the Junior Varsity Girls' Volleyball team since 2007 and had been scheduled to coach again this fall.
Christopher Schuck, Head of School at La Jolla Country Day School, said in August that Li had passed all the necessary requirements for working with kids.
Li, a native of China, will be deported after he serves out his sentence.
