CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- A former coach of the traveling teen girls basketball club the Colorado Hoopsters was found dead behind bars Sunday.

Rick Lopez, 37, was found hanging in his cell, Douglas County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Tim Moore said.

There was a note found near him, but Moore said he could not discuss its contents.

Lopez was charged in August with 59 counts of sexual assault, assault and child abuse. He had an arraignment hearing scheduled for Feb. 11, Moore said.

His death was under investigation.

Prosecutors have alleged that Lopez admitted having sexual relationships with three of his former players in tape-recorded conversations. Investigators said the girls were teenagers when the alleged encounters began in 1998, and one was 13.

At one point, Lopez had lived with the family of one of his alleged victims, 7NEWS reported.

Lopez was arrested July 30 in New York after a traffic stop. He was near the Syracuse University campus and a tipster had told the Douglas County Sheriff's Office that Lopez was in the area to visit one of his former Hoopsters players.

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office had been investigating Lopez since July 2003.

Lopez had denied allegations of misconduct.