SACRAMENTO (AP) – A Sacramento-based nonprofit run by former NBA star and Sacramento mayoral candidate Kevin Johnson is facing scrutiny after a teenager complained of inappropriate touching by Johnson.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office asked the federal government to investigate because the nonprofit, St. HOPE, has received money in the past from the federal AmeriCorps program.

According to reports from St. HOPE, the nonprofit organization has expanded since its founding in 1998 to include a $1 million after-school facility; the 40 Acres Art Gallery and Cultural Center; and, since 2003, St. HOPE Public Schools, which serves 2,000 students through an elementary charter school and four autonomous small schools on the campus of Sacramento High School (Johnson’s alma mater).

The governor’s California Volunteers office administers AmeriCorps money coming to the state and is required to report such allegations.

Marta Bortner, a spokeswoman for the state volunteer office, says the request was made to the AmeriCorps inspector general last week. It was triggered by a report filed a year ago with Sacramento County Child Protective Services.

A spokesman for AmeriCorps in Washington, D.C., would not confirm whether the organization was investigating the claim.

Johnson campaign spokeswoman Christy Setzer says the girl eventually recanted the allegation. Setzer says the girl’s claims were properly investigated by St. HOPE and that Sacramento police determined her allegations were without merit.

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