coach

Youth Basketball Coach Accused of Molestation

Coach charged with lewd and lascivious conduct and molestation.

The relative of a student at Hialeah Gardens High School claims her family member is one of at least six others molested by their former basketball coach.

"Beware of this person who is like [a] wolf in sheep's clothing," said the woman, who did not want to be identified.

The woman said 33-year-old Javier Cuenca, a former Hialeah Gardens basketball coach charged with several counts of lewd and lascivious conduct and molestation, targeted one of her family members.

"It's been sexual touching," she said. "It's been when they're stretching, he'll rub up against them, touch their testicles."

The relative of one of the alleged victims said Cuenca manipulated the teen boys to think he had their best interest at heart. She said the molestation has been going on for two to three years.

"He would tell them that he was going give them a steroid to make them bigger and stronger and more athletic," she said. "And he would tell them that in order to give them that steroid he had to test them."

According to police reports, the molestation began in 2012 and continued through 2014. He allegedly fondled one 17-year-old victim's penis and testicles various times during that time period, police said. The victim told police he was 15 years old when the alleged abuse began. Cuenca allegedly gave that victim Anavar, a steriod, without a prescription, the police report said.

Cuenca is also accused of asking two other 17-year-old victims, who were 15 years old at the time, to show him their penises to check for a "virgin line," according to police reports. Cuenca allegedly attempted to touch one of the victims as he showed the coach his penis, police said. Both incidents occurred at the high school, according to police.

No one answered the door at Cuenca's home, but the man who is now out of jail on bond has been very active on his Twitter account since his Friday arrest. One tweet read, "The amount of support and phone calls today is overwhelming. Gonna get a good workout in." He has also retweeted students who have come to his defense.

Parents picking up their children at school on Monday expressed concern that their kids may have been victims too.

"It's pretty sick if the allegations are true," said parent Vivian Farias.

Mother Kenia Hernandez said the first thing she did when she found out about the allegations was to ask her son if he had been molested. Hernandez said her son assured her that nothing like that had ever happened to him.

"It's sad to see that in our city, in our schools, with our kids, we trust everyone that they're around," Hernandez said. "Now that this is coming up, you ask your son or your daughter if they've been around this person, to be open if something happened."

As for the woman who claims her family member was one of the victims, NBC 6's reporter Laura Rodriguez asked her the following question:

"For those who might be watching this report and thinking, 'What if this is a group of relatives ganging up on this coach' - what's your response to that?"

The woman replied, "My response is what is there to gain but humiliation?"

The alleged victim's relative hopes to spread awareness and said she is confident there are many more boys who haven't come forward.

"We want people to talk to their kids," she said. "It's a really difficult conversation. It's heartbreaking, it's that thing you never wanna talk about, but it's necessary."

Relatives of the victim say he was a P.E. teacher at a Broward County charter school until six weeks ago. School officials confirmed that Cuencadid was a teacher at  the Championship Academy of Distinction in Broward and left the job in October.

It is unknown if Cuenca has an attorney.

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