A state appeals court has upheld a ruling by Blair County Judge Timothy M. Sullivan designating a former Altoona Area High School assistant soccer coach a sexually violent predator for her sexual abuse of two young players.

The players were ages 15 and 16 when the coach, Kyla A. Hollingshead, now 25, had romantic relationships with the girls.

Hollingshead pleaded guilty 14 months ago to one count of corruption of minors and one count of institutional sexual abuse.

She was sentenced to 60 days to 23 1/2 months in the Blair County Prison, followed by 30 months’ probation.

Being sentenced on the criminal charges was not the end of the case.

Sullivan referred the case to the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Review Board to recommend if Hollingshead was a sexually violent predator under Megan’s Law, a finding that requires her to register with police and undergo extensive counseling.

It was the judge’s finding on that aspect of the case that Hollingshead, through her attorney, Steven P. Passarello, appealed to the Superior Court.

Sullivan found the review board’s expert, Corrine Scheuneman, to be credible in her determination that Hollingshead suffered from hebephilia, a mental disorder in which an individual is attracted to children in age ranges from 11-16 years, depending on the situation.

Hollingshead presented her own expert witness, Timothy P. Foley, a psychologist from Admore, who contended hebephilia was “not a recognized mental disorder.”

Scheuneman agreed it was not mentioned among disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders but stated it is a condition associated with paraphilia, which is discussed in the manual.

While Scheuneman said individuals with hebephilia are sometimes attracted to children of varying age ranges, she focused her analysis on the predator’s attraction, not to children of a certain ages but to the “innocence and vulnerability” of the victims.

A three-judge panel of the Superior Court found Hollingshead threatened suicide if the girls ended their relationships with her – taking advantage of the teenagers’ innocence.

She told the girls to keep their relationships secret, and she “groomed” the girls, again relying on their innocence and vulnerability, according to the court, by giving them gifts and watching movies with them.

According to Superior Court Judges Kate Ford Elliott, Jack A. Panella and Judith Ference Olson, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has never dealt with a case in which hebephilia was a named condition, but the Superior Court judges cited cases from New York, North Dakota, Massachusetts and the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals (Boston) that recognized hebephilia as a mental disorder.

“Therefore, we hold that a trial court may conclude, based on expert testimony and facts in a given case, that a hebephilia diagnosis is sufficient to find a defendant has a mental abnormality,” the Superior Court panel concluded.

The case of the soccer coach involved multiple victims, grooming and the fact Hollingshead as a coach exploited the girls’ trust, also relevant factors in the judge’s finding.

Sullivan, the court concluded, “weighed all of the stimulatory mandated factors and concluded the evidence proved, by clear and convincing evidence, that (Hollingshead) is a sexually violent predator.”

The defense can request a hearing before a nine-member Superior Court panel or ask for review of the case by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.