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A 26-year-old man who posed as a Dallas high school student to relive his basketball glory days was sentenced to probation on Tuesday.
Sidney Gilstrap-Portley got six years’ probation for indecency with a child after manipulating a 14-year-old girl into an illegal relationship. He pleaded guilty to charges of records tampering and indecency with a child.
The plea helped Gilstrap-Portley avoid serious jail time. He was facing up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for three counts of tampering with a government record and indecency with a child.
Gilstrap-Portley was 25 when he enrolled at Skyline High School under a fake name, Rashun Richardson, claiming he was a Hurricane Harvey evacuee. He later transferred to Hillcrest High School and played basketball, becoming the star player on the team.
Gilstrap-Portley's victim was a student at Hillcrest.
Last year, the girl’s mother shared with FOX 4 text messages that she says Gilstrap-Portley sent her after she questioned his age, stating: “I would like to meet you as well so that you can feel at least a little comfortable with her being around me…. That’s why….[I] had her home before 8:45. So you won't think nothing extra going on.”
Gilstrap-Portley had actually graduated from North Mesquite High School in 2011. It was a former North Mesquite coach who recognized him.
Gilstrap-Portley’s attorney, Nigel Redmond, says his client is very remorseful about lying.
“He tried to take advantage of an opportunity. It did not go well,” Redmond said. “He knows that it wasn’t a good decision. He knows that. If he had the chance, he would do it all over again and not put himself in this situation.”
In the two years since Gilstrap-Portley somehow passed as a student, Dallas ISD says it has strengthened its enrollment process. They said, “We now request more documentation from students’ previous schools and intensify our follow-up efforts to ensure that this type of situation does not happen again.”
Gilstrap-Portley will be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years.