After gymnastics coach scandal, Key Biscayne has a new policy for coaches and volunteers

More than six months after a Key Biscayne gymnastics coach was arrested over allegations of sex crimes involving two of his teenage students, the village has adopted a new code of conduct for coaches and volunteers who interact with children.

It is the latest policy the village has adopted since the Miami Herald’s investigation into Oscar Olea published in January, raising questions about how Olea had been able to obtain a permit to coach young girls through Key Biscayne in 2013, despite some village officials knowing about certain accusations involving the teens as early as 2011 .

The new policy lays out that all parks employees, volunteers and employees working with other organizations on behalf of the parks department may not be alone with a child without another adult being present or notified, adding that they must maintain appropriate physical boundaries. The coach or volunteer must also agree to not touch or speak to a child in an inappropriate manner, give a child a ride home, inflict physical or emotional abuse, or engage in private communications with a child via text message or social media. The policy also reminds volunteers and coaches of mandatory reporting requirements regarding child abuse.

If someone violates the policy, they will be subject to discipline or termination, according to the village’s parks director.

Village Manager Steve Williamson previously announced that the Parks and Recreation Department would beef up its screening processes by requiring more intensive background checks.

Olea, 39, remains in jail awaiting a trial currently scheduled for December. He has pleaded not guilty , and he denied all allegations in the Herald’s reporting through his lawyer at the time of publication.

If the code had been in place when Olea was coaching, he would’ve been in violation of most, if not all, of it. His students said that he frequently gave them rides, often by themselves, and that he communicated with them via text and social media, including video calls. He also conducted private lessons in an empty gym where at least one of the girls said some of the abuse happened.

An investigation into Olea was initiated by Key Biscayne police in September 2023 when the families of a 7- and 4-year-old reported that the coach had inappropriately spoken to and touched the two girls. That investigation closed in January.

After the Herald published its investigation of Olea, where three now-adult women shared stories of the coach grooming and sexually abusing them more than 10 years ago when they were minors, those same victims told their stories to police for the first time in full. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office charged Olea with six counts of sexual crimes with a minor by a person with custodial authority, and he was arrested on Feb. 28.

Only two of the alleged victims’ accusations led to charges. The third alleged victim, though a minor at the time, worked at the recreational center alongside Olea, and the State Attorney’s Office said in that case, the statute of limitations had passed.

The Herald investigation also revealed that a mother had told the chief of police at the time, Charles Press, that Olea had raped her 17-year-old daughter, though she declined to press charges. Press previously told the Herald that he met with Parks and Recreation Director Todd Hofferberth and other village officials at the time to discuss the allegation.

Hofferberth also knew that Olea had been fired by the village’s community center in November 2011 for carrying a female student in a sexually suggestive way. But when Olea applied for a permit to coach at the Village Green Park in 2013, Hofferberth approved it. He previously told the Herald that the allegations were “hearsay” and that he had no justification to deny the permit. Hofferberth, who makes more than $200,000, is still the parks director, a position he has held for over 25 years.

At an Aug. 27 council meeting, it was Hofferberth who announced the new code of conduct for coaches and volunteers.

“Obviously people that fail to follow the code of conduct could be disciplined or removed from our programs, so that’s the goal,” he said.

He said the new code “promotes accountability, encourages reporting and fosters respect.”

Mayor Joe Rasco embraced the new code, saying, “We’ve come a long way.”

Neither the village manager nor the parks director were available this week for an interview with the Herald.