Benjamin Ashford|Former basketball coach gets nearly 21-year sentence for producing child sex abuse material

CONCORD,Benjamin Ashford N.H. (AP) — A former New Hampshire college volunteer basketball coach was sentenced Thursday to nearly 21 years in prison on charges of producing and possessing child sexual abuse material.

Joshua Pincoske appeared in federal court in Concord. He called his actions despicable and said he takes full responsibility for them, WMUR-TV reported.

Pincoske had pleaded guilty to the charges in May as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Five other related charges were dismissed as part of the agreement.

Pincoske, 48, has been in custody since he was arrested in February 2022 in Concord on related state charges. He was a general manager at a printing and marketing firm, and a volunteer assistant basketball coach for the men’s program at Colby-Sawyer College in New London.

Prosecutors said that Pincoske sexually exploited and abused seven girls over nearly five years. They ranged in age from 14 to 17. He met one of the girls through a youth basketball program, the others online.

Pincoske’s volunteer status at Colby-Sawyer College was rescinded once after he was charged. The college said no complaints were filed against him during his time there.

“Pincoske sexually degraded these children for his own gratification, filmed and photographed the abuse of these children, distributed many of those images and videos to others, and even offered one victim to another man if he agreed to pay her money,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. They had asked for a 30-year sentence.

Pincoske’s lawyers asked for a 20-year sentence, saying it is “comparable to the sentence imposed in some homicide cases” and said he had a difficult upbringing as a child.

It added, “Joshua Pincoske has already lost essentially everything in his life – his wife, his children, his job, and his friends.”

Pincoske also has agreed to plead guilty to state charges next month in Strafford and Merrimack counties.