A Key Biscayne gymnastics coach arrested for allegedly sexually battering two of his underage students made his first appearance in court Thursday, where he was ordered held without bond.
Oscar Olea, 38, surrendered to authorities and was arrested Wednesday on two counts of sexual battery.
At a hearing Thursday, Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer found probable cause and ordered Olea held without bond.
A defense attorney for Olea, who wore a safety vest during the hearing, tried to convince Glazer that he isn't a flight risk.
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"Even when this investigation began we’ve been present with the and cooperating with the police department and we went straight to the police department when they said there was a warrant and we were there immediately so it’s not like we’re hiding," defense attorney Beatriz Llorente said.
Olea only spoke twice, once to say he understood a stay-away order for the alleged victims and at the end when he thanked Glazer.
The no bond is pending a hearing that will be held Friday, where a judge will decide when to hear arguments on the state's motion for pre-trial detention.
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The arrest of Olea comes weeks after a Miami Herald investigation reported there had been at least five alleged victims of the coach.
Clara-Sophia Daly, one of the reporters of the Herald investigation, said they uncovered the allegations after receiving a tip back in October from a parent who said Olea inappropriately touched their 7-year-old child. The Herald then found two other alleged victims, who are now in their 20s and 30s, who said Olea had sex with them multiple times when they were teens.
In an affidavit obtained by NBC6, one of the victims, who is now in her 30s, told detectives she was 10 years old when she became Olea's gymnastic student. When she was 14 and Olea was 22, she said he started to befriend her and portray himself as a "big brother" and told her they had a "brother-sister relationship," the affidavit stated.
The victim started taking private lessons with him at American Gymster in Key Biscayne, but Olea would also drive her to another gym in Coral Gables, where he started inappropriately touching her, police said.
"He enticed her into getting closer to him as someone she could trust," detectives wrote in the affidavit.
Over time, their relationship escalated into sexual intercourse. Detectives said Olea sexually abused the victim multiple times at his apartment and the Key Biscayne gym, where he would place mats and cones against the wall to block them from public view, detectives said.
Key Biscayne Police started the investigation into Olea back in September — and because of that investigation, additional victims came forward.
According to another affidavit, a second victim, who is now in her 20s, came forward to police back in January and told them she was abused by Olea when she was 14 years old and he was 26.
Olea also befriended this victim, who said he portrayed himself as a father, older brother and friend figure in her life, police said.
The victim told detectives since she was bullied and her parents were going through a divorce at the time, she felt that Olea was the only one who "made her feel loved and valued."
The relationship progressed during private lessons, detectives said. On top of victimizing her at the gym, in his car and at his mother's apartment, Olea also managed to gain the victim's mother's trust and even visited their home.
"(Olea) told her she couldn't tell anyone about their sexual relationship and not to say anything to her parents," the affidavit read. "He did it out of love because he loved her, and he didn't do that with anyone else."
NBC6 spoke with one woman Thursday who said her two daughters took lessons with Olea, who she described as a great coach, but said she once told him he was way too friendly with the girls.
