PHOENIX — Peoria High School basketball coach and prominent Valley sports fan known as"Mr. ORNG" has been arrested on charges related to child sex crimes, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.On Tuesday morning, the Peoria Police Department was made aware of a sexual offense investigation regarding an employee at Peoria High School.
During an investigation, detectives spoke with the people involved and learned Battillo had been asking the juvenile victims to send videos and photos of themselves in various sex acts and various states of nudity, according to Peoria PD.He was arrested in Goodyear and later booked into the Maricopa County Jail on several charges including luring a minor for sexual exploitation and child sex trafficking.
Battillo has been going to Phoenix Suns games dressed completely in orange for more than a decade and garnered popularity among fans, even being featured in NBA commercials and social media posts. Patrick Battillo was the varsity basketball coach and volunteer, but yesterday we were made aware that he may have committed sex crimes involving children. As soon as we became aware of the allegations, we contacted the Peoria Police Department, the Arizona Department of Education and have filed a report with the Department of Child Safety.