Latest: Water polo coach pleads not guilty to molestation
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on molestation charges against a California water polo coach (all times local):
2:05 p.m.
A Southern California water polo coach has pleaded not guilty to charges he sexually abused seven of his young female players.
Bahram Hojreh appeared Wednesday in Orange County court on counts including sexual battery and lewd acts upon a child.
Hojreh’s lawyer, Ricardo Nicol, tells The Associated Press his client denies the accusations. Nicol says Hojreh never had a blemish on his record after working with hundreds of children over two decades.
Prosecutors say the alleged crimes occurred during one-on-one coaching sessions between 2014 and this year. Four of the girls were 15 years old or younger Investigators are searching for additional possible victims.
The 42-year-old was released on $250,000 bond.
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12:20 p.m.
Prosecutors say a coach has been charged with the sexual abuse of seven girls in a Southern California water polo club.
The Orange County District Attorney’s office announced Wednesday that Bahram Hojreh faces charges including sexual battery and sexual penetration by foreign object of a minor. It wasn’t immediately known if Hojreh has an attorney.
The charges come months after his group, the International Water Polo Club, was removed from using the pool at a military base. Police informed base officials they were investigating allegations involving sexual misconduct against the program’s director.
Hojreh touts himself as a coach for nearly a quarter-century who has “helped develop multiple Olympians.”
He serves on the board for a local chapter of USA Water Polo, the sport’s governing body in the United States.
