Key Biscayne gymnastics coach accused of sexual abuse denied bond in Miami-Dade court
A Key Biscayne gymnastics coach booked Wednesday on charges that he sexually abused students more than a decade ago, was denied bond Thursday in his first appearance in Miami-Dade court.
Oscar Olea, 38, appeared in front of Circuit Judge Mindy S. Glazer handcuffed and wearing a green, jail-issued smock.
Glazer granted the state’s motion for pre-trial detention.
Olea faces a subsequent court hearing before Circuit Judge Alberto Milian to determine whether he can bond out before the trial.
Olea surrendered to authorities Wednesday and was booked on two felony counts of sex acts with a child, each charge carrying a $25,000 bond.
The charges come weeks after the Miami Herald published an investigation into Olea, including accusations from three alleged victims from over a decade ago.
After the Herald published its investigation, the three former girls, now adults, who had spoken to the Herald went to police to tell their stories. Two of their cases are cited in the arrest warrants.
A previous investigation by the Key Biscayne Police Department looked into allegations by parents that the coach spoke to and touched two students, ages 4 and 7, inappropriately. It was opened in September of last year and closed by January, shortly before the Herald published its investigation.
The warrants issued Wednesday describe the earlier victims but not those from the more recent complaints in September.
Olea’s lawyer, Beatrice Llorente, argued in court for Olea to be released on bond, stating he lives with his mother and has been cooperative with police throughout the investigation. She also offered to surrender his passport to the court.
During the hearing, the lawyer said: “This is all led by
a Miami Herald reporter who has been very very vocal on the news, getting her name on the paper regarding this story.” She asked the judge to consider it took at least one alleged victim “a month and 14 years” to come forward.
Judge Glazer issued a stay-away order in relation to the two alleged victims and instructed Olea to have no contact with children under 18, if and when he is released.
The two alleged victims cited in the charges told police Olea developed a brother-sister relationship with them while he was their coach and that this led to each having sex with Olea on multiple occasions. They were 14 and 16.
The families of both went to Key Biscayne police at the time of the alleged abuse, but no charges were filed then. Police say that was because the families did not want to subject their young daughters to the criminal justice system, and so no formal report was made.
One parent of an alleged victim told the Herald she felt reporting the rape would further traumatize her daughter.
Olea continued to coach at various locations in Key Biscayne, including two church schools, for the next decade-plus, a popular figure in the Key Biscayne community until now.
Contacted previously by the Herald, Llorente denied all of the allegations on behalf of her client. In a statement to reporters before the investigation was published, she called the Herald’s questions “’drive-by’ accusations that lacked context or verifiable sourcing.”
Llorente has not responded to reporters since the investigation was published.