Former coach charged with child molestation, accused of preying on 13-year-old girl

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County volunteer basketball coach is being held in the DeKalb County Jail without bond, accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

On Tuesday, police arrested Alexandra Makupson at her home in Lithonia on felony charges of child molestation and enticing a child for incident purposes.

Investigators said the 23-year-old preyed on one of her own players identified in court documents as a 13-year-old girl.

"This is really hard to believe," neighbor Deneen Williams said after learning about Makupson's arrest.

Neighbors said it's hard to believe because when Makupson is not at work, she's known for giving back to her community, volunteering her time as an assistant girls basketball coach at Cedar Grove Middle School in Decatur.

TRENDING STORIES:

• 3 people shot at Waffle House; 2 of them showed up at Cobb County gas station
• Georgia tattoo shop pays off school lunch debt
• Pelosi to announce formal Trump impeachment inquiry, report says

"She's a good girl. She goes to church with her mom. She works every day. She's always at home," Williams said.

The 13-year-old child and her former coach both admitted in court filings that they met off campus for sex on four separate occasions between the months of March and June.

Right now, the school district is calling this an ongoing investigation.

Williams said she never saw anything suspicious and always trusted the suspect around her own children.

"All I can say is I can pray for her and hope that this will not be true," Williams said.

The school district made it very clear that Makupson was never an employee of the district, only a volunteer coach.

In a statement, the district said, in part:

"The relationship allegedly occurred last year. DeKalb County School District police investigated the incident thoroughly upon learning of the alleged relationship."

Cox Media Group