Olea turned from “big brother” to sexual predator, arrest warrants allege

One woman flew in from Alaska, seeking justice. Another came forward to “prevent the victimization of other girls.”

They provided police vivid details – often horrific – alleging how as teenage girls they were groomed and then lured into sexual relationships by Key Biscayne gymnastic coach Oscar Olea more than a decade ago.

Both women told police that as teenagers they felt bullied by their peers and that Olea acted at first like a “big brother” before moving onto groping them and eventual sexual intercourse, according to the arrest warrants released by the State Attorney’s Office. 

Both told police they feared at the time their trusted coach had impregnated them, the women told police.

Olea, 38, surrendered on Wednesday and is charged with two felonies of sexual battery on a child 12 years or older by a custodian . If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.  Denied bond at his initial appearance, Olea is due back in court on Monday.

Olea coached out of the now shuttered Flipout Workout and American Gymnsters. He also held classes at the Community Center and on the Village Green — and the Key Biscayne Community Church.

He was investigated by police last fall after parents alleged he inappropriately touched two young students but no charges were filed. Then the women came forward to police after some of their accounts were published by the Miami Herald in January. 

The first woman who came forward on Jan. 30 told police, according to the arrest warrant affidavit, that Olea enticed her into having sex with him 10 times in 2011 and 2012. She was 14. He was 26.

Olea “acted as if he was younger than his age and he always tried to bond with female students,” she told Key Biscayne police.

At the time, the woman — who is about 27 — said her parents were going through a divorce and Olea “was the only person that made her feel loved and valued,” the warrant stated.

“The subject would visit the victim at her house where he gained her mother’s trust,” Key Biscayne Police Det. Fernando Carvajal wrote in an affidavit to obtain one of two arrest warrants for Olea.

Sheryl Woodham, executive director of The Guardian Center, a children’s advocacy organization in southeastern Illinois, said predators often groom the parent first. Single parents are especially vulnerable. 

“Having a willing adult to help them out in a certain way can be very enticing,” Woodham said. “If a child is struggling, this person might be willing to ‘help’ in a variety of ways and that allows them to gain access.”

The first woman to come forward told detectives that Olea lured her to have sex with him in his car and at Olea’s mother’s home, according to the arrest warrant. “The victim stated she was living with the illusion that they would end up together,” the detective wrote.

When her mother went to police with suspicions, her daughter denied the relationship, afraid her father would follow through on a threat and send her to boarding school in Switzerland, the now grown victim told police.

After the Herald story was published, and discussing it with her husband, the woman told police she wanted to come forward to stop Olea from preying on any other girls.

The second victim who came forward on Jan. 31 lives in Alaska.

She said as a teen she felt bullied as well, because she was from Russia and didn’t speak Spanish. When she was 16, during private lessons, Olea would rub her genitals over her leotard, according to the arrest warrant. 

He then started teasing her about her virginity, she said. “You’re a virgin and you don’t know how to kiss,” the woman told detectives Olea had said. “No one is going to like you because you don’t know what you’re doing since you never had sex.”

He showed her photos of him kissing the first victim to come forward,“to get her jealous,” the arrest warrant stated.

She told police that around 2009, Olea – during a private lesson – forced her to have sex. “She was horrified,” the detective wrote.

The victim recalled to police having sexual intercourse with Olea on two separate occasions at American Gymsters and once at Olea’s apartment. It was at his apartment, she told the detective, that Olea penetrated her with a glass object.

Both teens feared Olea might have impregnated them. 

The first victim told police Olea in the summer of 2011 took her to a Coral Gables medical office where he had a friend perform an ultrasound.

The woman said Olea said he would provide her with a pregnancy test kit and that if she were pregnant he would take her to an abortion clinic, according to the arrest warrant. 

“During the interview, the victim was crying, distraught and overwhelmed with emotions,” Carvajal wrote of the witness.

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