Youth coach groped children in Disney resort pool, deputies say

Coach was in town for Disney's International Salute to Baseball Tournament

ORLANDO, Fla. – A man has been arrested by the Orange County Sheriff's Office in connection with the groping of children at Disney’s Pop Century Resort over the Fourth of July holiday.

Nicholas Groth, 26, was arrested on five counts of lewd and lascivious molestation.

The incident was reported at 9:40 p.m. Sunday at Disney's Pop Century Resort in Lake Buena Vista.

A 7-year-old boy told police that a man grabbed him three times while he was swimming in a pool at the Walt Disney World resort, according to authorities.

According to an Orange County Sheriff's Office incident report, the boy and his parents told deputies that Groth grabbed the boy's buttocks. The boy told authorities that he told the man to stop and leave him alone after his buttocks were touched the first time, the report said.

The man touched the boy twice more, authorities said. The child swam away, got out of the pool and told his father what happened, according to officials.

The boy's father confronted the man, who said, “Please, I didn’t do anything. I’m a 14U Wisconsin baseball coach," according to authorities.

The number of possible victims was unclear, but three separate cases list victims under 12 years old and one between from 12 to 15.

The Sheriff's Office said the children identified Groth from a photo and also spotted him after being taken to a baseball field at Disney.

Groth, who was in Orlando for Disney’s International Salute to Baseball Tournament, is being held on no bond.


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