A former traveling soccer coach with ties to teams around Florida was arrested Thursday in Washington on a warrant from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office charging him with molesting two boys.
U.S. marshals apprehended Sean Douglas Stern, 35, in Tacoma, Washington, the sheriff’s office said. Flagler detectives filed a nationwide warrant for Stern on Oct.19.
Stern is charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of two boys between 12 and 16 years old in Flagler County multiple times between January 2015 and April 2016, according to the sheriff’s office report.
Detectives started investigating the former coach in April after he was fired from a Professional Sports Pathways in Palm Coast. The school is now closed.
After Stern was fired, he moved from Flagler Beach to Seattle, according to FSCO.
Stern coached at several Florida locations, including a soccer club in Palm Coast and at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and has ties to Jacksonville Armada, FC United, West Ham International Academy and Pure FC.
The sheriff’s office wants to speak with anyone whose children participated in soccer programs with Stern to find any additional possible victims. People can contact FCSO Detective Gabe Fuentes at 386-586-4890 or Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida at 888-277-8477.
Stern is being held without bail in the Pierce County Jail in Tacoma.