- Kendall Pinder has long history of sex offences
- Pleaded guilty to two serious charges
- Played for Globetrotters and three NBL sides
Disgraced former basketball star Kendal ‘Tiny’ Pinder could be deported from Australia after being hit with a hefty prison sentence for the latest in a long history of sexual crimes.
The Bahamian-born basketballer was sentenced to eight years’ jail in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court on Thursday after pleading guilty in April to sexual intercourse without consent and aggravated sexual assault.
The 67-year-old will first be eligible for release on October 25, 2026, having already spent close to three years behind bars.
The rape charge stemmed from Pinder starting intercourse with a woman while she was sleeping in a bed next to him and therefore unable to consent.
Kendal ‘Tiny’ Pinder (pictured while playing for the Perth Wildcats in the National Basketball League) has been jailed for eight years and could be deported
The former Harlem Globetrotter left a woman with life-threatening injuries in one attack
The latest aggravated sexual assault charge relates to Pinder having, on an earlier occasion, vaginally penetrated the same woman with his whole hand, leaving her with ‘serious and life threatening’ injuries.
In sentencing Pinder, Judge Andrew Scotting said a cognitive impairment attributed to him by a psychologist helped explain his history of criminal behaviour but did not excuse it.
In February, Pinder’s Australian visa was cancelled by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, the basketballer’s lawyer told the court.
A former member of the Harlem Globetrotters, Pinder’s Australian career began with NBL team Sydney Supersonics in the 1985-86 season.
He joined the Perth Wildcats in 1987, helping the team win back-to-back championships in 1990 and 1991.
Pinder later returned to the NBL for one season with the Wollongong Hawks in 1995-96.
He was previously convicted for sexually assaulting three women aged 16 to 20 between 1988 and 1990 and jailed for five years in NSW for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl.
The disgraced former star (pictured) had previously been jailed for five years for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl
Pinder was also sentenced to 15 months in jail for a recent conviction after stalking a woman as she walked home from a train station in the Sydney suburb of Rockdale.
Judge Scotting told the hearing Pinder’s history of sexual assault raised concerns for the ongoing safety of the community upon his release.
‘He’s had a number of convictions for similar matters and that needs to be taken into account,’ he said.
Pinder’s lawyer Anita Betts argued the circumstances of his offending, including that the woman consented to prior sexual acts, placed it at the lower end of the scale.
But crown prosecutor Daniel Waldmann argued the woman’s previous consent should in no way reduce the seriousness of Pinder’s crimes.
He described Pinder’s expressions of remorse as ‘hollow, superficial and disingenuous’.
The court heard the woman initially consented to Pinder’s request to put his hand in her vagina but later changed her mind when she started to experience pain.
Pinder (pictured second from left, in the front row, wearing jersey No.5 after Perth won the 1991 championship) sexually assaulted three women aged 16 to 20 between 1988 and 1990
The woman pushed Pinder’s hand away and crawled away from him off the bed, the court heard.
In response, Pinder grabbed the woman by the ankle, dragged her back onto the bed and with a ‘quick, forced movement’ sexually assaulted her with his fist.
As a result, the woman experienced heavy bleeding from tearing within her vagina, requiring a blood transfusion.
‘The victim articulated her lack of consent in very clear and unambiguous terms,’ Mr Waldmann said.
Pinder previously told the court he was sorry and took responsibility for his actions.
‘I didn’t mean to hurt her,’ he said.
‘She asked me to stop. To my enormous regret and shame I continued.’
