In Orange County, California, a well-known water polo coach was convicted of sexually assaulting 10 teenage girls during sessions while their parents were poolside.
According to prosecutors, Bahram Hojreh molested the teen girls and “touched their breasts, twisted their nipples, touched their genitals above and below their swimsuits and digitally penetrated them underwater during coaching sessions.”
Prosecutors said that the coach allegedly told the teen girls that what he was doing was to “toughen them up for competition.”
On Wednesday, a judge ruled that Hojreh, 46, would face 22 felony charges, including sexual assault, sexual penetration, and lewd acts on children.
The jury also found Hojreh guilty of simple assault concerning one of the Jane Does.
Prosecutors say that assaults occurred between 2012 and 2017 with teen girls ages 13 to 17.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said, “My heart breaks for each one of these victims and for their parents who did everything they could to help their children achieve their athletic dreams and instead had to learn the painful truth that their daughters had been molested right in front of them – and there was nothing they could do to protect them.”
He said, “Thankfully, these brave girls had the courage to speak up about the abuse and prevented additional girls from being molested.”
