The Insurance Company for USA Water Polo and International Water Polo, an Orange County club which was once based out of Los Alamitos, reached a $13.85 million settlement with a dozen young women who alleged they were sexually abused for a five year period by a prominent coach who was once a walk-on assistant coach at Los Alamitos High.
None of the incidents in the lawsuit were reported by former Los Al student-athletes, or happened during the coach’s years at Los Al in the early to mid 2000s. However the coach was dismissed as a lower level Los Al coach after reports of his screaming at student-athletes and throwing things around and other “verbal and emotionally abusive behavior.” He also coached at University High in Irvine, Lakewood High, and Kennedy High School in La Palma, and he operated the International Water Polo Club, which was based in Los Alamitos. When the coach was arrested in 2018, prosecutors said the acts took place during one-on-one coaching sessions. Four of the players were 15 years old or younger at the time.
The Orange County District Attorney filed charges against the coach in April 2018. The case has not gone to trial yet.
The Orange County Register has the story.
USA Water Polo agrees to nearly $14 million settlement with sex abuse survivors
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