‘I Will Continue to Rise’: Dallas Student Abused by Coach Finds Justice, Voice

When Jamilet Almaras took the stand in a Dallas County criminal court Thursday morning, she willed herself not to cry.

She’d spent the night before typing out everything she wanted to say to the woman who’d abused her during Almaras’ teen years – 800 words to express a decade of grief, anger and a journey to forgiveness.

“I’m nervous,” she’d whispered moments before the judge called her forward to deliver her statement.

Before taking the stand, she hadn’t been able to read through the statement without crying, Almaras said. But as she looked out over the courtroom, she felt a sense of peace. Her voice didn’t waver as she looked at Kaylen Cottongame, the woman who sat across from her, and described how the abuse she experienced at Cottongame’s hands had affected her life.

Almaras grew up in Oak Cliff and played on the women’s basketball team coached by Cottongame while attending Hector P. Garcia Middle School. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the two formed a close relationship that became sexual during Almaras’ high school years, when she was between 14 and 17 years old.

“She used her position, her authority and the trust I had in her to take advantage of me. That betrayal changed everything,” Almaras said. “It took away my sense of safety, my trust in adults and a part of my innocence I’ll never get back.”

Thursday morning, Cottongame pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault of a child. She was sentenced to 10 years of deferred probation. An attorney representing Cottongame declined to comment when approached by the Observer.

Almaras believes it is essential that her story is told because she wants people to understand better how prevalent the grooming and sexual abuse of minors is. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys will be a victim of childhood sexual abuse. More than 90% of those abuse cases happen between a child and someone they already know.

Sexual violence can lead to psychological, emotional and physical effects, RAINN says. For Almaras, her abuse damaged her self-esteem and how she approached romantic relationships. She credits therapy and her support system for getting her through the anguish that many victims do not think is possible to overcome.

“I will continue to rise. As a coach, as an educator and as a woman who refused to let darkness have the final say,” Almaras said. “There can be change, and your life can go on. … There is light at the end of the tunnel, and I definitely want to be an advocate for that.”

Seeking Closure

Thursday’s proceedings closed the door on a case that started over two years ago.

In March 2023, Almaras was 22 years old, living in Austin and working her first job as an educator and coach. She told police investigators that it was the first time she truly realized how young she’d been when Cottongame pursued a romantic, and then a sexual, relationship with her.

Cottongame was interviewed by police detectives within a few days of Almaras coming forward, and she admitted to engaging in sexual activities with Almaras when Almaras was a minor, an arrest warrant affidavit stated. She was arrested several days later. Cottongame was listed on the Garcia Middle School’s website as the campus’s athletic director at the time of her arrest.

“Honestly, after not seeing her for so long, I feel better. I feel like that’s the closure I needed,” Almaras told the Observer after Thursday’s proceedings. “I’m glad I didn’t cry. I wanted to come off as strong.”

As a high school basketball coach in Austin, Almaras has striven to be the role model she believes she didn’t have the opportunity to have. She’s helped develop a playoff-caliber women’s basketball program and led two track athletes to state titles. 

Outside of her job, she is an avid runner. She developed a strong community in Austin, she said, out of necessity because returning to Dallas was so painful. Each time she’d visit her hometown in the years after coming to terms with the abuse, she said, she felt paranoid and anxiety-ridden.

“I didn’t feel like Dallas was my home anymore,” she said. “My family was there, but I didn’t see myself coming back [to Dallas] just because my body knew … I didn’t feel safe.”

In recent months, though, after “extensive therapy,” Almaras started considering what it would mean to return to Dallas. She describes her Austin campus as “rigorous,” the type of school where students have a million resources at their disposal. That wasn’t her experience growing up in Oak Cliff, and she started to wonder if there was “another little Jamie out there in [Oak Cliff]” who needs the type of mentorship she’s made it her goal to offer students. She plans to return to Dallas in July and find a coaching job at a Title 1 school.

It’s a step in the right direction, she said, but she still has work to do. On Thursday, she came to court alone, telling her friends and family to stay home. Because even now, there’s “still a part of (herself) that feels ashamed and embarrassed” by the abuse.

“I realized if I really want to make a change, I have to come back and serve my community,” she said. “I’m reclaiming my city, not as the scared girl I once was, but as the strong, grounded, successful woman I’ve become.”