A Key Biscayne gymnastics coach is now behind bars after a monthslong investigation into allegations that he sexually battered two of his students, who were both minors at the time.
Oscar Olea, 38, surrendered to authorities and was arrested Wednesday, according to the Key Biscayne Police Department. He was being held on two counts of sexual battery, authorities said.
His arrest comes weeks after a Miami Herald investigation reported Olea had at least five alleged victims.
Clara-Sophia Daly, one of the reporters of the Herald investigation, said they uncovered the allegations after receiving a tip back in October from a parent who said Olea inappropriately touched their 7-year-old child. The Herald then found two other alleged victims, who are now in their 20s and 30s, who said Olea had sex with them multiple times when they were teens.
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"When I spoke to the alleged victims today, they are definitely feeling a sense of relief, feeling happy that he’s off the streets," Daly said. "It’s been a long road covering this story. It’s difficult to talk to women about these kinds of things."
In an affidavit obtained by NBC6, one of the victims, who is now in her 30s, told detectives she was 10 years old when she became Olea's gymnastic student. When she was 14 and Olea was 22, she said he started to befriend her and portray himself as a "big brother" and told her they had a "brother-sister relationship," the affidavit stated.
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The victim started taking private lessons with him at American Gymster in Key Biscayne, but Olea would also drive her to another gym in Coral Gables, where he started inappropriately touching her, police said.
"He enticed her into getting closer to him as someone she could trust," detectives wrote in the affidavit.
Over time, their relationship escalated into sexual intercourse. Detectives said Olea sexually abused the victim multiple times at his apartment and the Key Biscayne gym, where he would place mats and cones against the wall to block them from public view, detectives said.
Key Biscayne Police started the investigation into Olea back in September — and because of that investigation, additional victims came forward.
According to another affidavit, a second victim, who is now in her 20s, came forward to police back in January and told them she was abused by Olea when she was 14 years old and he was 26.
Olea also befriended this victim, who said he portrayed himself as a father, older brother and friend figure in her life, police said.
"There’s interesting similarities in the ways that he inappropriately interacted with a number of females," Daly said.
The victim told detectives since she was bullied and her parents were going through a divorce at the time, she felt that Olea was the only one who "made her feel loved and valued."
The relationship progressed during private lessons, detectives said. On top of victimizing her at the gym, in his car and at his mother's apartment, Olea also managed to gain the victim's mother's trust and even visited their home.
"(Olea) told her she couldn't tell anyone about their sexual relationship and not to say anything to her parents," the affidavit read. "He did it out of love because he loved her, and he didn't do that with anyone else."
Key Biscayne residents held a town hall meeting earlier this month with police once word got out about the coach’s alleged behavior.
"The Key Biscayne Police Department made an arrest today on serious allegations that have been weighing on our community for some time," Key Biscayne Mayor Joe Rasco said in a statement. "It took a lot of courage for the victims to come forward and speak with police. I want to thank our police department as well as the Miami-Dade Police Department for working tirelessly on this investigation. Thanks to the efforts of many, our residents can feel some relief."
According to Daly, some parents went to the police, but at the time, they didn’t file an official police report. The alleged victims didn’t share their story with police until after their article was released, she said.
NBC6 reached out to Key Biscayne Police and American Gymsters for a statement on the charges but have not received a comment.
Olea is being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Key Biscayne Police encouraged any other victims or witnesses to come forward.
