Girl recounts molestation by Wichita tennis coach, lasting trauma at sentencing
A tennis coach who once worked with the Wichita State University women’s team was sentenced last week to three years of probation for sexually abusing an eighth-grader who took private lessons from him over summer break.
The coach, Max McVey Wheeler of Wichita, was 23 years old when he molested the 14-year-old girl on a country club’s tennis court during practice, coerced her into sending him nude photos and sent her a video of himself masturbating in 2024. Court records say he began pressuring the girl immediately through Snapchat messages after their first lesson and escalated to sexually touching her when they met for practice again the next day.
To get the girl alone, Wheeler would deliberately serve tennis balls into a secluded area of the court. He choked and sexually molested her when they went to retrieve them, court records say.
Over the subsequent month, Wheeler sent the girl more than a thousand Snapchat messages that included lewd suggestions and requests for sex, according to court records.
The girl’s mother ended her daughter’s training with Wheeler after five lessons, when she discovered an Instagram message where he asked the girl for a photo.
But she didn’t know the extent of the abuse until her daughter disclosed it about a month after that first practice.
Now, the mother says their family lives in a “before-and-after world” where her once carefree, social daughter who was “beyond excited for high school” started wearing her hair down to hide choke marks on her neck, suffered recurring nightmares and had panic attacks when she tried to play tennis again.
“She was supposed to be safe there,” the mother said in front of a packed courtroom gallery before Sedgwick County District Judge Chrystal Krier handed down the probation sentence for three child sex crimes.
Instead, Wheeler was “a monster” who preyed on her daughter, the mother told the court.
The Eagle is not naming the mother because doing so would identify her daughter, and The Eagle does not identify the victims of sex crimes without their permission.
“Real coaches aren’t sexually attracted to children. ... He was the adult in the room and he took advantage of that in many disgusting ways,” she said.
The girl told the judge that Wheeler “acknowledged a sexual attraction to me” when they first met.
Back then, she was so young and inexperienced that she thought his advances were special and normal, she said.
“Max was nearly a decade older than me. ... I was freshly out of eighth grade.”
But he treated and spoke to her in ways that she now understands were meant to manipulate and groom her, she told the judge.
He warned her to keep their involvement a secret. He talked about impregnating her if he was ever intoxicated around her. And he would grab her neck and squeeze when he molested her, she said.
She told the judge the effect of the abuse has been long-lasting. She’s 17 now but still struggles to manage relationships and function in school.
She also lost her motivation to play tennis, a sport she loved, she said.
“I had no experience, no understanding and no capability to navigate what happened to me.”
When it was his turn to speak, Wheeler stood and made a brief statement expressing regret: “I am remorseful, your honor, and I apologize to all the parties involved.”
In letters submitted to the court with Wheeler’s written request for probation, dozens of local business people, friends and relatives defended his character and described him as trustworthy, responsible, honest and a “great” tennis coach to their children. Many of the letters were dated around the time Wheeler was arrested in 2024.
Although the parents of the girl implored the judge to give Wheeler “real consequences” and “real prison time” for his crimes, Krier announced that she was sentencing him to probation, in line with recommendations from lawyers who negotiated his plea agreement.
She acknowledged that the case was difficult for everyone involved. But she said she trusted that the attorneys who negotiated his plea made the best deal they could.
Wheeler was originally charged with nine crimes, including aggravated indecent liberties with a child, criminal sodomy, indecent liberties with a child, electronic solicitation of a child and promoting obscenity to minors. Most of the charges were amended or dismissed when he pleaded guilty in April.
In his remarks, defense lawyer Kurt Kerns told the court the deal he and prosecutors worked “really hard and long on” was “as close to justice as we can get.”
“This is not a decision that I enter into lightly,” Krier said.
Under the plea agreement, Wheeler agreed to stop coaching children, can’t have unsupervised contact with any girls under the age of 16 and must complete sex offender treatment. He is also barred from having contact with the teenage victim and her parents.
If he fails to follow the terms of his probation, he could be sent to prison for up to 68 months.
Before concluding the hearing, the judge told Wheeler he had “been given a gift” when she sentenced him to probation.
But she warned him that he would not get a free pass if he appeared before her again.
