EVERETT — A volunteer gymnastics coach was arrested Friday afternoon for investigation of voyeurism and possession of child pornography, according to the Everett Police Department.
The investigation began in December, when a 10-year-old student at Leading Edge Gymnastics Academy told a coach — not the one arrested — about a suspicious box in the bathroom.
Staff reportedly found a cellphone in the box, pointing at the toilets.
Upon finding it, the head coach called 911. As they waited for police, the head coach reportedly asked the male suspect for help reviewing video surveillance. She showed him the box with the phone in the bathroom and told him not to touch it.
The head coach briefly left the suspect alone in the bathroom. When she returned, she saw him quickly leave, according to a news release from Everett police. When officers arrived, they looked inside the box. The phone was missing.
The volunteer coach denied being in the bathroom or that he took the phone. He volunteered to let police search through his phone.
It was the second time police had investigated voyeurism at the academy, according to the news release. Another phone was found wedged under a bathroom sink in October 2019.
In that case, the phone was locked. It has remained in evidence, awaiting the possibility that a suspect would be identified.
After discovering the second phone, detectives obtained a search warrant for the first one and confirmed it belonged to the same volunteer coach.
On the phone that was found earlier, there were three concerning videos, according to police. Detectives believe that two of those videos, while dark, were taken in a bathroom at the academy.
The third video allegedly depicted child pornography.
Detectives are working to identify potential victims and gather additional evidence.
A staffer told The Daily Herald that the volunteer coach has been fired. Leading Edge Gymnastics is at 1500 Industry St..
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
