A private coach who has worked with UCLA track athletes was charged Thursday with sexually assaulting one of his trainees, prosecutors said.
Conrad Avondale Mainwaring, 67, of Los Angeles, pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual battery under the guise of providing physical therapy, the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
The charge stems from an incident involving a then 20-year-old victim on June 26, 2016, the DA’s office said.
An ongoing investigation by ESPN’s Outside the Lines has identified 31 men who say they were sexually abused by Mainwaring.
The allegations span some 44 years, with the youngest accuser being 14 when they say they were assaulted.
The men told ESPN Mainwaring used his status as a onetime Olympian, ties to prominent athletes and knowledge of psychology and physiology to convince them to train with him. The training allegedly included what Mainwaring called a mental focus component in which he instructed them to control and manipulate erections and testosterone levels to improve their athletic performance.
ESPN says one of its journalists spurred the victim Mainwaring was charged with battering to contact police, and when the man did LAPD told him Mainwaring was already under investigation based on tips from out of state.
LAPD detective Sharlene Johnson told the outlet that Mainwaring was “using his position as a coach with athletes who are so focused and driven to be perfect at their craft that he was able to victimize them without them even realizing it.”
Mainwaring completed in the hurdles at the 1976 Olympics, representing the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda, but did not medal.
Most recently, Mainwaring worked as a private coach at various tracks around West L.A., according to L.A. police.
Prosecutors filed the sexual battery case for a warrant on Tuesday, and the coach was arrested Wednesday.
Mainwaring was being held on $100,000 bail and scheduled to return to court July 10, officials said.
If convicted as charged, he could face up to four years in state prison.
Anyone with information on potential additional victims in the case can contact Detective Johnson at 213-486-6910, or call 877-527-3247 after normal business hours. Anonymous tips may be submitted via 800-222-8477 or www.lacrimestoppers.org.
