Former Fort Worth gymnastics coach accused of child sex abuse

A former gymnastics coach at Sokol Gymnastics in Fort Worth has been arrested near Indianapolis and faces extradition on charges of child sexual abuse, according to Fort Worth police and an attorney hired by the club.

Skipper Glenn Crawley, known as Skip, coached at the club for about a year and is accused of sexually abusing several young gymnasts who were members of the same team, said Russ Prince of the Palma & Prince law firm of Tampa, Fla., and lawyer for Sokol.

Crawley was wanted by Fort Worth police on a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child and two charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child, said police spokesman Tracy Carter.

The allegations were made in late April, Prince said, and authorities at the school immediately notified police and USA Gymnastics, the national governing body for the sport, which suspended Crawley.

Prince said he believes there are three accusers, who Star-Telegram media partner WFAA said range in age from 8 to 13. He added, however, that there shouldn’t be a rush to judgment.

“I speak for the club, and they want law enforcement to thoroughly vet this,” Prince said. “We believe law enforcement will do their job vetting these allegations. We want to take a healthy step back and let formal discovery do its job.”

Crawley was booked into Hamilton County Jail in Noblesville, Ind., shortly after midnight Thursday.

Police did not say how they located Crawley or when his extradition will take place, but credited the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force with taking him into custody without incident.

Crawley was a former gymnast at Richland High School and was inducted into the Birdville ISD Sports Hall of Fame in October 2016, according to a post shared on the BISD high school gymnastics Facebook page.

The post was written by a man who says he lives in Westfield, Ind., 20 miles north of Indianapolis. The Hamilton County Jail website says Crawley was arrested by Westfield police. The man who made the Facebook post did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Police did not say how long Crawley was a fugitive, but posts made as recently as July 31 on his Facebook page said he was in Arlington when he made them.

Crawley claimed on Facebook to have been working recently as a master trainer at 24 Hour Fitness in North Richland Hills. Representatives from 24 Hour Fitness did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Personnel at Sokol directed all media inquiries to Prince.

According to Tarrant County court records, Crawley was arrested in January 2017 for intoxicated driving. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined nearly $1,000.

This story was originally published August 2, 2018 at 2:02 PM with the headline "Former Fort Worth gymnastics coach accused of child sex abuse."