Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Instructor faces child porn charges
A Boca Raton gymnastics instructor has been charged with possessing child pornography and detectives are concerned about his contact with children, the Broward Sheriff ’s Office said.
Hassan Jawad, 37, was arrested at his Deerfield Beach home about 9 a.m. Thursday after investigators received a tip that child pornography files had been shared with a computer at that address, officials said.
Detectives with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force uncovered several videos and pictures of boys engaged in sexual acts with other boys or men. Most of the victims appear to be between the ages of 7 and 13, investigators said.
Jawad had been working for more than a year at Twister Gymnastics at 3100 NW Boca Raton Blvd. He also worked at the New England Academy of Gymnastics in Marlborough, Mass., from 2015 to 2017, officials said.
Twister Gymnastics released a statement Thursday that read:
“We are completely devastated and we’re shocked after hearing this today. We’re angry. We never received any complaints about his behavior or any reason to suspect he had any inappropriate contact with a minor. We’re deeply committed to the safety and well being
of all children that enter our doors.”
The director of operations, Sara Shugars, told WFOR-Ch.4 there have been no complaints against Jawad.
“There was never any indication,” she said. “There was never a single parent complaint. There was never a staff member complaint. There was never any indication of anything like this going on.”
During a court hearing Friday afternoon, Broward Judge Jackie Powell set bonds totaling $135,000 in the case and ordered that should Jawad bond out of jail he’s to have no contact with minors, not return to Twister Gymnastics and not possess any device with internet access.
There has been no indication that Jawad has had any inappropriate contact with children at the gymnastics school.
But investigators ask anyone who may have additional information to contact Broward Sheriff’s Detective Jennifer Montgomery at 954-888-5239.