A former standout high school and college basketball player who was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage student at a skills school he operated in Ford City was sentenced to 23 months in jail and must register as a sex offender.
In October 2022, South Buffalo police charged Mark Anthony Shehady, 25, of O’Hara with three counts each of sexual assault by a sports official, unlawful contact with a minor, two counts of child pornography and a count of corruption of a minor. All are felonies.
Police also charged Shehady with a misdemeanor count of indecent assault.
He was released from the Armstrong County Jail after a bail agency posted a $100,000 bond on his behalf, court records show.
In July, Shehady pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge after prosecutors dropped the nine felony charges against him.
Armstrong County District Attorney Katie Charlton said the teenage victim and their family supported the plea agreement to avoid the potential trauma of going through a trial.
Shehady, who played basketball at Hampton High School and Point Park College, could have been sentenced to a maximum of five years in jail for the misdemeanor charge.
A guilty verdict for the felonies that were dropped would have carried a sentence of between five and seven years for each of the nine counts, according to the district attorney.
The plea agreement also requires Shehady to register with the state’s Megan’s Law database of sexual offenders for 25 years.
Police began investigating Shehady after receiving a state ChildLine report accusing him of abusing a 16-year-old student attending his skills camp, according to a criminal complaint.
Shehady Basketball Training, which rented gym space in several states, including a South Buffalo location, was opened in 2020, according to police, who cited information posted on the training center’s website.
Shehady’s school ran basketball camps and clinics and offered private and group sessions, along with conducting skills programs for high schools and athletic associations in 22 states.
The school still has an active Facebook page, but the last post was in April 2022. Phone calls placed to the number listed on the page were not returned. Shehady also has pages for his school on TikTok, Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.
Investigators said details of the assaults against the teen emerged during a forensic interview. The teen told police that they and Shehady first expressed “feelings for each other” during a trip in late July 2022 to an out-of-state tournament, the complaint said.
Shehady had sexual contact with the teen on at least three occasions, police said. The assaults occurred in Shehady’s pickup parked along a road in South Buffalo, according to his arrest papers.
At Shehady’s request, the teen also sent him nude photos, and he sent the teen photos of himself wearing only underwear, the complaint said.
After a successful high school and college basketball career, Shehady decided to open the skills school to “share his knowledge and passion for the game,” according to his website.
Shehady was part of the 2017 Hampton High School basketball team that made the WPIAL finals, advancing to a runner-up finish and a state tournament berth.
While attending Point Park University in 2020 on an athletic scholarship, Shehady was one of three players chosen by the Pioneers basketball coach to represent Team USA at a basketball World Cup tournament in Lanzhou, China.
