DEERFIELD BEACH, FL --A South Florida gymnastics coach jailed on child molestation charges has a bond hearing scheduled for Friday morning, and a group of parents and children who know him plan to attend the hearing to support him, said the coach's attorney.
"They want him to continue coaching," said Russell Williams, the attorney for Raymond Adams.
Adams, a USA Gymnastics-certified coach, was arrested last week on charges he fondled a 10-year-old girl during a class at Bieger International Gymnastics and has since been held without bond at the Broward County Jail.
Williams said he is investigating to try to determine exactly when the alleged incident occurred and how the Broward Sheriff's Office investigated the allegation.
Williams points out that a sheriff's office arrest report does not indicate what date the girl said the molestation happened. He also says that investigators have not interviewed parents who spend time at the gym and are potential witnesses, adding that children training at the gym are kept within eyesight of their parents and supervisors at all times.
"How the incident occurred is quite baffling to me, as well as when it occurred," said Williams. He added that he's also trying to get Adams' bond hearing pushed up to Thursday.
Investigators, in the meantime, say they have uncovered a pattern of troubling behavior involving Adams, who had been fired from some local privately owned gyms after allegations of inappropriate behavior, said Broward Sheriff's Office Detective Julie Bower.
Adams, 38, has not been previously arrested in South Florida, records show, but had faced molestation charges in the past in other states.
Police in Madison County, Ill., arrested Raymond Adams in 1998 on four counts of aggravated sexual abuse, a felony. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors reduced the charges to misdemeanor battery, to which Adams pleaded guilty in 2000, according to the Madison County State Attorney's Office.
He avoided jail time and probation, and paid $390 in court fines, said Stephanee Smith, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office.
The criminal charges stemmed from allegations that the abuse occurred in Alton, Ill., from December 1995 to May 1998, Smith said. She did not have additional information on the case.
Police in St. Louis County, Mo., said Adams was arrested there in the late 1990s on a sexual misconduct charge. Police and court officials in St. Louis County said Adams was found not guilty in the case. Additional details were not immediately available.
Bieger hired a company to perform a background check on Adams that turned up clean, said Bieger's attorney, Howard Scheinberg. The gym's owners also thought Adams had no criminal history because he was certified to coach through USA Gymnastics, which performs extensive background checks on coaches, Scheinberg said Friday.
Adams worked previously for at least two other South Florida gymnastics centers: American Twisters, in Coconut Creek, and Treasure Coast Gymnastics, in Martin County.
