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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Sex Case Against Ex-Coach Sent To District Court

By Laura Nesbitt /
Mountain View Telegraph
      Four girls who claim former Estancia track coach Grey Nevelos sexually assaulted them could not quell their tears as they recounted their accusations during Nevelos’ preliminary hearing in Torrance County Magistrate Court on Wednesday.
       Nevelos was the winning head coach of Estancia High School boys and girls track and field, the high school athletic trainer and the head coach of boys and girls cross country until he was placed on administrative leave on Nov. 2 and told not to come onto campus or have contact with any of the students.
       His case was bound over to state District Court after the hearing on Wednesday.
       “Judge, this is an injury to the social fabric of the county, a massive violation of trust. The state has shown ample probable cause. We ask that you bind the case over to District Court,” said Deputy District Attorney Tim Cornish.
       Defense Attorney Michael Alarid had nothing to say.
       The state claimed that probable cause had been met in all but one of the seven counts brought against Nevelos, because the defendant had already turned 18 several weeks prior to the alleged assault and therefore was no longer a minor.
       Each of the four girls, aged 16 to 19, waited behind a closed door in a witness room and testified separately. Each recounted when, where and how Nevelos allegedly touched them and things he had allegedly said.
       Cornish asked that none of the young girls be named because of what they were forced to testify about.
       In reply to direct questions from Cornish, the first girl began crying when she said that Nevelos had touched her breasts after school at his house while rubbing her back, presumably to relax her muscles.
       She told the court that while she was lying face down on a pillow, Nevelos reached under her sports bra and grabbed her breasts. She then demonstrated what she accused Nevelos of doing.
       Nevelos apologized for what he had done, she said, about one year later.
       “I cried hysterically on the way home,” she said. She said that she was embarrassed at first to tell anyone but her boyfriend.
       “Why did you go to Mrs. (Carolyn Allen-) Renteria,” the superintendent of schools, asked Cornish.
       “I started thinking about all the kids I see in elementary school and I couldn’t let this happen to them,” she said.
       Alarid cross-examined each of the witnesses asking how many times the girls had been to Nevelos’ house, what had happened there, and if they had been asked to come over.
       All of the girls had to demonstrate to the court, while victim advocate Amy Smythe sat next to them, how and where Nevelos allegedly touched them. Each was asked to identify Nevelos to the court.
       The second witness said Nevelos had made gestures regarding the size of her breasts, but said she was too scared to speak up. Several of the witnesses said that Nevelos had used obscene language in front of them about other students.
       “His nickname was perv,” said the last witness, and explained that meant perverted.
       Nevelos fondled her buttocks with her gym shorts lowered, said the second witness.
       The second witness said that Nevelos had invited her over to his house to take a shot of “Crown” and watch a video of a former track and field athlete with two other girls engaged in sexual activities.
       The third and fourth witnesses claimed that Nevelos did body fat tests on their bodies that included a tape measure which he used to measure their upper thighs and breasts.
       “He said he could give me the best shot I’d ever had. He told me to keep it a secret” but she never went over to his house, the last witness claimed.
       The four girls came forward with charges against Nevelos after the Estancia schools and then the Estancia Police Department investigated rumors circulating inside the school.
       At his Feb. 15 arraignment, Nevelos pleaded not guilty to seven charges allegedly committed from 2006 to the end of 2007, including four counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
       Nevelos posted a $50,000 cash or surety bond and was released on an electronic monitoring system.
   

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