The recent wave of sexual harassment charges has sensitized Indiana and the rest of the nation to the frequency of men in positions of power sexually abusing underage girls and women. A case that appears to be typical of this trend allegedly occurred in Arcadia, Indiana, when a diving coach was charged with numerous counts of sex offenses with three underage girls.
The incidents came to light when a student at the private diving camp where the suspect worked said that he had touched her inappropriately during stretching and rubdowns after workouts. The girl was 15 when she accused the diving instructor of touching her genitals during rubdowns and massages. She alleged that the violations happened on more occasions than she could count and that sometimes the contact would be “really bad.”
Two older members of the diving camp came forward to make similar allegations to police. The girls were no longer members of the diving camp when they relayed their accusations to police, but they described incidents that they claimed occurred when they were younger and students at the camp. The defendant is alleged to have said that he touched the girls to “see what kind of reaction” he would get. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of 32 counts of sexual misconduct with a minor child, child seduction and battery.
Given the country’s increased sensitivity to such charges, anyone who is the subject of such allegations may face an especially difficult task in refuting them. Because most such alleged incidents happen with no witnesses present, these cases turn almost entirely on the credibility of the defendant and his accusers. A capable criminal defense attorney may be extremely helpful in finding weaknesses in the testimony of accusers and in lessening the impact of their testimony.
Source: WTHR, “Diving coach arrested on sexual misconduct charges,” Rich Van Wyk, Nov. 29, 2017