Grapevine gym owner arrested on new sex assault charges

A volleyball club owner already facing charges of raping a 16-year-old player was arrested again Wednesday on two more charges of sexual assault of a child, according to police.

Damian Merrick, 48, of Grapevine was arrested at his home Wednesday afternoon by police. He faces two new charges of sexual assault of a child stemming from a June investigation involving another student, Grapevine police Sgt. Robert Eberling said Wednesday.

Merrick was in the Grapevine jail Wednesday night. Bail on one charge was set at $15,000, but no bail was set on the other, Eberling said.

Merrick, owner of the Grapevine Volleyball Club, was first arrested June 26 and accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl on March 29 at her home while her parents were gone.

Arrest warrant affidavits previously obtained by the Star-Telegram state that Merrick gave the girl and other teenagers marijuana before he forced the 16-year-old to have sex in a bathroom.

Eberling said he had no further information about the arrest on Wednesday other than that the case involves the same incident.

He has an Oct. 21 court date on the initial charges. —Monica S. Nagy

This story contains information from Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published September 9, 2015 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Grapevine gym owner arrested on new sex assault charges."