It’s one of those “parents worst nightmare” stories as police in Everett, Washington announced the arrest of a volunteer gymnastics coach. Here is the release put out by Everett Police spokesman Aaron Snell.
Further investigation is still ongoing post arrest.
This afternoon, detectives arrested a 44 year-old volunteer gymnastics coach and booked him in the Snohomish County Jail on probable cause for voyeurism and possession of child pornography.
The investigation began in December of 2020 when a 10 year-old student at a gymnastics academy in the 1500 block of Industrial St told her coach about a suspicious box in the bathroom. The girl’s coach asked the head coach to help him check the bathroom where they saw a box hiding a Google phone facing the toilet area. Believing the phone was being used as a recording device, the bathroom was closed and the head coach called 911.
While waiting for officers to arrive, the head coach asked a volunteer coach for help reviewing the facilities video surveillance system as he assisted the academy with the cameras and technical issues. When asked, the volunteer coach was shown the suspicious box with the phone and told not to touch it. The man remained alone in the bathroom for a short time and quickly left as the head coach returned.
When officers arrived, there was no phone in the box and the head coach suspected the man had taken the device. When interviewed that afternoon, the volunteer coach denied being in the bathroom, removing any device and voluntarily provided his Google phone for forensic review.
This was the second investigation of voyeurism at the academy. In October of 2019, another Google phone was found wedged under a sink, facing outwards, in a bathroom. Believing it may have been recording students in the bathroom, the phone was impounded. Detectives with the Forensics Investigation Unit attempted to examine the phone, but it was locked. With no identified suspects or victims, the phone remained in evidence for the potential of further examination.
Detectives believed investigating two cases of voyeurism on two Google phones at the same location was suspicious and believed the volunteer coach was a suspect. They obtained a warrant for the 2019 Google phone and confirmed the phone belonged to the volunteer coach.
In addition to the 2019 Google phone, a digital forensic exam of the phone voluntarily provided by the coach located three concerning videos. Two videos were dark but, based on sound, were believed to be taken in a bathroom at the academy. The third video depicted an unknown minor child engaged in sexually explicit activity.
Detectives continue investigating the incident to identify potential victims and gather additional evidence.
January 29, 2021
Police Blotter