Country Day volleyball coach pleads guilty to sexual assault

By City News Service

A volleyball coach pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl while serving as an instructor at a summer volleyball camp at the University of San Diego.

Xia Wei Li, 29, of Pacific Beach, faces between three and 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 16 by Judge Theodore Weathers.

Li pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of committing a lewd act on a child under 14 and admitted an allegation of substantial sexual conduct, said Deputy District Attorney Dan Link.

The defendant will likely be deported once he serves his time in prison, the prosecutor said.

The girl, who lives in San Bernardino, told her parents about the sexual assault, which she said occurred in late July in a secluded outdoor area at the USD campus, according to San Diego police Lt. Rick O’Hanlon.

Li coached for Epic Volleyball in Poway from 2006 through 2008, and Coast Volleyball in San Diego from 2008 to this year, O’Hanlon said.

Li had been scheduled to resume his post as junior varsity girls’ volleyball coach at La Jolla Country Day School this fall.