San Ramon cheer group was alerted to rumors about coach
Months before a cheer instructor and teacher allegedly molested teen girls, a concerned parent alerted the head of the cheerleading organization to rumors that 41-year-old Nicholas Moseby was being inappropriate with young girls.
But the organization, Nor*Cal Elite in San Ramon, responded only by defending him, according to an email exchange reviewed by this news organization, outraging the parent and raising questions about whether it fulfilled its obligations under federal law.
“I was floored at the fact that they didn't seem to care,” said the mother of multiple children attending San Ramon Valley Unified schools, whose name this news organization has agreed not to disclose because it would identify her children.
Asked whether her organization conducted an investigation, Donna Potter, owner of Nor*Cal Elite and recipient of the parent's email, said in an email that Moseby “was interviewed and denied there was any substance to the rumor.”
Moseby, a stunt instructor at Nor*Cal Elite and San Ramon Valley Unified School District teacher, was arrested Sept. 14 and faces multiple counts of lewd act upon a child, two misdemeanor child molestation charges and a charge of sending a lewd video to a girl. Five alleged victims have been identified.
The email exchange was provided by the parent and then verified as authentic and complete by Potter.
The parent initially alerted Nor*Cal Elite on March 12 after canceling prescheduled appointments to have Moseby coach her children. Her email included no specific allegations, instead saying, “I have heard rumors of him being inappropriate with girls and that makes my daughter and her friend very uncomfortable. Please contact me as soon as possible.”
But rather than expressing concern or asking for details about the rumors and specific students and parents to speak with, Potter defended Moseby and offered to have a different person coach the woman's daughter.
“I am sorry to hear that there are rumors being spread,” Potter wrote in reference to Moseby. “Coach Nik has been working with students for many years and has successfully helped athletes achieve their goals in a positive manner.”
The club, however, agreed to a refund for all prepaid sessions the parent scheduled with Moseby, the email shows.
All of Moseby's alleged victims are teen girls — as young as 13 — who Moseby either coached at Nor*Cal Elite or taught at a San Ramon Valley Unified school. Some of the alleged crimes happened after the March email and include at least one Nor*Cal Elite member, the 15-year-old girl, prosecutors said.
Nor*Cal Elite is a cheerleading and tumbling training facility for girls and boys ages 5-18. The club also has various competitive teams that attend regional and national competitions.
A day after Moseby's arrest, Nor*Cal Elite-San Ramon put out a statement on Instagram about his termination with an assurance that the club has a “zero tolerance policy” for sexual harassment and assault, as well as any other unwelcome physical contact. The mother who sent the March email called the statement “infuriating,” adding that “they hadn't done everything or really anything to protect any other kids in their program.”
Failing to report suspected sexual abuse to law enforcement authorities is a violation of the Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017, said Mountain View-based attorney Claire Kalia, whose clients include local organizations seeking legal advice on how to comply with the new statute. The federal law is meant to prevent the sexual abuse of minors and amateur athletes by requiring the prompt reporting of sexual abuse to law enforcement authorities, and for other purposes.
Potter declined to provide this news organization with written policies about how the organization responds to allegations made against coaches and staff members and what sorts of contact are allowed between staff and students outside of scheduled lessons, after earlier saying the club has such policies. “I believe I've given you all the information that is reasonable under the circumstances and will not have further comment,” she wrote in an email Thursday afternoon.
Moseby made his third court appearance Thursday morning, dressed in a neon green jumpsuit to indicate he is being housed in protective custody at the jail, as his attorney tried in vain to convince Judge John Cope to lower Moseby's bail from $300,000 to $50,000. Multiple members of his family were present in court, as well as an attorney representing some of the victims.
At the hearing, prosecutors announced that they'd added a fifth alleged victim to the case, along with a misdemeanor charge of annoying or molesting a minor. Deputy District Attorney Jessica Murad did not describe the allegations behind the charge in detail, other than to say they occurred inside a biology classroom in front of multiple witnesses.
The criminal case against Moseby has been snowballing since early last month when a girl reported that Moseby sent her the explicit video on SnapChat and that he inappropriately touched her during a cheerleading coaching session. Days later, prosecutors added a second victim, who accused him of rubbing his private parts against her backside during a physical education class in front of multiple witnesses. About a week after that, Moseby faced three new charges related to two new alleged victims.
Moseby had at least three prior criminal cases when he was hired, including a 2016 misdemeanor charge of soliciting a prostitute in Alameda County, for which he received a deferred judgment, and a 2009 misdemeanor conviction for providing alcohol to a minor in Arizona, court records show. In the Arizona case, police investigated Moseby as a sexual abuse suspect after a teen reported that she was assaulted at a party after Moseby provided her alcohol, but no sex charges were ever filed, prosecutors revealed in court Thursday.
San Ramon Valley Unified officials are now conducting an interview review of the district's background checks for new hires and practices for “managing concerns and complaints” of teachers or staff. The prostitution arrest didn't show up on Moseby's background check, the district's superintendent said. Moseby had informed the district of the 2009 conviction.
Ahead of the bail hearing, Moseby's attorney submitted 15 letters of support from Moseby's family, students and their parents, who called the allegations difficult to believe.
But one incident characterized in support letters as harassment against Moseby by male high school students describes another possible warning sign: A group of boys taped an edited photograph of Moseby onto his classroom door and “had written that he was a pedophile,” according to one letter.