After Herald investigation, women report coach’s alleged sexual abuse to Key Biscayne police
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Key Biscayne’s Dark Secret
Key Biscayne gymnastics coach Oscar Olea had been trailed by sex abuse allegations for over 12 years. Weeks after the Miami Herald published an investigation, Olea was arrested.
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A woman who says she was repeatedly sexually abused 13 years ago by a Key Biscayne gymnastics coach finally told her story to police on Tuesday. As a result, a closed investigation into the coach may have been given new life.
She was the second woman in the past two days to report having been sexually abused by the coach more than a decade ago. Neither made a formal complaint back then. Both said they were motivated to come forward now by a Miami Herald investigation called “Key Biscayne’s Dark Secret.”
The investigation outlined a pattern of alleged abuse by Oscar Olea, a longtime gymnastics coach in the village.
“I would love to see him behind bars, but it’s not on me anymore,” said a 26-year-old who told reporters she was sexually abused by Olea between 10 and 20 times when she was 13 and his student.
“It’s their job now,” she said after meeting with Key Biscayne investigators on Tuesday. She said she was told by detective Fernando Carvajal that investigators had enough evidence to take the case to the state attorney.
Asked to confirm that, Chief Francis Sousa would not do so. He said via email only that past alleged victims had come forward and the department would be examining the information as it came and would “work with our partners.”
This is the first time Key Biscayne police have heard directly from alleged victims about events from 2011-12, including purported sexual assaults. The department recently closed an investigation into Olea involving recent allegations of inappropriate touching and language toward two students, age 4 and 7. The department, working with prosecutors, determined there was no basis for charges. That investigation stirred the memories of Olea’s past students, who described their alleged experiences to the MIami Herald.
The mothers of the 4- and 7-year-old were at the police station as the 26- year-old came forward Tuesday. The 4-year-old’s mother said she was called in by Carvajal after the questioning of the accuser was complete and told that police now have enough evidence to take her daughter’s case back to the state attorney.
“I felt guilty that I didn’t come forward sooner,” said the other alleged victim from 2011-12, after going to police Monday. Her mother accompanied her and also gave a statement to police.
The experience of reporting was traumatic, the 30-year-old said. “They ask questions that make you doubt what you’re saying is real.”
The 26-year-old, a mother of three, said her 4-year-old daughter has expressed interest in starting gymnastics. She says that going to the police to report what she experienced provided her the closure she needs before feeling comfortable allowing her daughter to start the sport.
She said abruptly quit gymnastics as a child because of what she endured.
“Back then, I was scared about what my parents would say,” she said.
Francey Hakes, a former state and federal prosecutor, said she found the lack of serious investigation thus far “shocking and falling far below the national standards for child-abuse investigations.”
She said investigators should be “hauling the offender” in for an interview, and starting a branch-out investigation where investigators interview other students of Olea, parents, friends, teachers and counselors.
Olea disappears from social media
In other developments in the wake of the Herald investigation, hours after its publication last Friday Olea deleted his Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. His gymnastic studio’s website domain went offline.
The studio in Key Biscayne’s L’Esplanade mall had its blinds shut, but the studio name remained.
The owner of Kendall’s Leyva Gymnastics, where Olea coached his more-competitive athletes, texted the Herald on the day of publication to say Olea would no longer be allowed to rent space.
On the NextDoor app, Key Biscayne residents wrote about being shocked by the decade-old allegations and the lack of action by the Key Biscayne Police Department.
“Totally horrible!! It was covered up!! It puts the community in danger!!” read one comment.
Another read: “I am disappointed how this was handled by the previous Police Chief. There is no excuse for this to happen in our community!!”
Olea, 38, and his attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Online petition seeks town hall with village council
Luisa Conway, a Key Biscayne resident since 2013, launched a petition asking for a town hall meeting to address why the small island community was “left in the dark.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the petition had over 175 signatures.
Anyone wishing to speak to a reporter about this matter can email csdaly@MiamiHerald.com or achacin@MiamiHerald.com
This story was originally published January 30, 2024 at 5:16 PM.
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