King, 61, was known as "Coach Andy" to a string of Olympic hopefuls he coached over the years, setting up shop at a series of swim clubs and pools in Contra Costa and beyond, and carrying on openly flirtatious relationships with young swimmers - fathering a child with at least one.
While parents trusted their children to him, King was luring the young girls into romantic interludes at his apartment and boat, telling the girls to comply with his demands or to abandon their Olympic dreams. He pleaded no contest to 20 felony counts of child molestation stemming from a September incident involving a 14-year-old girl he coached at San Jose Aquatics.
In addition to his most recent job in San Jose, King was head coach or assistant coach at swim clubs in Lafayette, Concord, San Ramon and Walnut Creek. King also taught at a swim school in El Sobrante and was an instructor at Chabot College. He was under investigation by the Contra Costa County District Attorney's office when allegations of improper advances on young swimmers began to surface. Investigators said King "slipped through the cracks," because of his nomadic lifestyle, with King moving from one pool to another when rumors began to surface.
Accusations of King's sexual predation was supported by a dozen young women from San Ramon and elsewhere as the case against him unfolded in San Jose. All of the women gave similar versions of encounters with their coach. None of the accusations could be included with the current charges against King because they had fallen outside the statute of limitations.
2 comments:
Perhaps he'll be getting some coaching himself in San Quentin.
I am constantly amazed by the level of faith and trust put in people who have no more to offer our children but the hope of excelling in a field sport or pool sport. Some of these people comport themselves like gods among the earthly. I never understood why they didn't get called out by their proteges or their parents more often.
This is so sad to read about. Apprently this one man ruined several good people, possibly for the rest of their lives.
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