A Texas figure skating coach who once guided Winter Olympic gold medalist Amber Glenn has been charged with indecency with a child and sexual assault. NBC reported.
Benjamin Shroats, 47, was taken into custody Wednesday in Collin County, Texas, This is reported by CBS Texas Thursday.
Shroats’ conditions prohibit him from coaching or teaching skating students. Fox 4 reported this from court documents.
According to the station, Shroats was arrested after Allen police received a report of alleged misconduct with two of his athletes — one of whom was a minor when that relationship began.
Shroats’ attorney told NBC that the trainer “unequivocally denies the allegations against him.”
“For the past 30 years, Mr. Shroats has been a highly respected figure skating coach/instructor in the local DFW community,” Scott Edgett said in a statement. “Out of respect for the judicial process and potential future jurors, we will not litigate this case through media commentary.”
Texas-born Glenn trained under Shroats from ages 9 to 14 and referred to him as her “rink dad” at the time.
“I took harness lessons from him on my double axle,” she said Figure skaters online in 2014. “He became a full-time part of my team when I was a Novice. He is like my rink dad or big brother and keeps me on track. While he can be relaxed and laid-back, he can also turn up the heat when necessary. I can completely trust him to be organized and consistent.”
HuffPost has reached out to Glenn for comment.
Glenn won gold at the Milan Cortina Games in the team event, recovering from 13th in the short program to fifth overall after a high-scoring free skate.
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