California water polo coach charged with molesting 7 girls
LOS ANGELES — A coach who ran a club affiliated with USA Water Polo has been charged with the sexual abuse of seven underage female players during one-on-one coaching sessions, prosecutors said Wednesday, the latest instance of mentors of young athletes being accused of misconduct.
Bahram Hojreh, 42, pleaded not guilty to charges including sexual battery, lewd acts upon a child, and sexual penetration by foreign object of a minor, according to a filing this week in Orange County Superior Court.
His attorney, Ricardo Nicol, told The Associated Press that Hojreh never had a blemish on his record after working with hundreds of children over two decades.
The victims were underage female water polo players and the alleged crimes occurred between 2014 and January of this year, the Orange County district attorney’s office said. Four of the girls were 15 or younger, prosecutors said.