A former youth athletics coach for a sports training academy in Orange County was arrested Thursday on suspicion of sexual assault.
Christopher Flores, 37, of Bellflower, was arrested about 11:30 a.m. in Bakersfield, Santa Ana police said. The coach-trainer at Stars Prep Academy in Orange is accused of assaults on a 14-year-old girl from Riverside.
The girl told police she was enrolled in the Stars Prep Academy and Flores was her coach. The crimes occurred throughout 2021 in various parts of Anaheim and Santa Ana, police said, adding that some of the alleged assaults were at Cavalry Chapel. It is not clear whether the 14-year-old girl was a student there or being trained by Flores at the campus during an academy program.
In a statement, police said one of the victims made a video recording of a 2021 conversation with Flores. Santa Ana police found out about the video, posted on social media, this week.
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"Flores can be heard asking the victim if she 'deleted everything' and asking her to go on a date with him," police said. "Detectives believe Flores was asking the victim to delete text messages between them. The victim gave a copy of this recording to police who immediately initiated an investigation."
Police said Flores trained athletes throughout California. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department is investigating similar allegations made by a 15-year-old Irvine girl.
In a statement posted to Instagram, Stars Prep Academy said it severed all ties with Flores
"The STARS family has been made aware that one of our former team members, Chris Flores, known by many as Coach Frogg, is named in several allegations of sexual misconduct involving minors," the academy said in the statement. "The STARS family has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual misconduct and we have severed all ties with Mr. Flores. Moreover, we are fully cooperating with the Santa Ana Police Department’s investigation.
"We all still have many questions and at this time, not a lot of answers. One certain thing is this: we are a family; our students, staff, and our partners. Families overcome challenges by healing together. I truly hope that together we can take steps to rebuild a stronger STARS family."
Academy founder Jason David posted a strongly worded video with the statement.
"I'm sick to my stomach. I'm disgusted," Davis said. "I'm outraged. These poor little gils not only have to deal with this in private, but now public. But I want to encourage you guys to continue to speak up. Continue to share your story."
It was not immediately clear whether Flores has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Flores was booked at the Orange County Jail for multiple counts of sexual assault of a minor. His bail was set at $500,000.
