A tennis coach convicted of stalking a teenage student four nearly four years has been sentenced to 90 days in prison.
Union County prosecutors say 36-year-old Joseph Gellene of West Long Branch also will have to serve 18 months of probation under the sentence imposed Friday.
Prosecutors say Gellene was hired in the fall of 2007 as a coach for the then 14-year-old male victim. That initial contact was followed by "inappropriate communications" that included hundreds of text messages and the presentation of gifts such as a free massage.
Gellene was fired as the victim's tennis instructor and advised to cease communication with him, but he continued to send text messages and place phone calls to the boy. He also started attending the same church as the teen's family.
