Ex-USA Gymnastics coach pleads not guilty in sex assault case
A former USA Gymnastics coach facing dozens of sexual assault and lewdness charges pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
Prosecutors have described Terry Gray, 52, as a physically and mentally abusive coach who inappropriately touched at least 10 young girls in Las Vegas.
He was initially charged in July with 14 felony counts of lewdness with a minor under 14. But in an indictment handed up late last month, prosecutors added 31 felony and gross misdemeanor charges, including five counts of sexual assault.
Gray, who police said was a gymnastics coach in Las Vegas 2009-15, remains free on $50,000 bail.
Authorities have conducted interviews with parents, former coaches and accusers. The former gymnasts, some now in college, said Gray was “grooming” them.
One woman testified to a grand jury that she had an ongoing sexual relationship with Gray while she was a teenager and that he was her coach at Brown’s Gymnastics in Las Vegas.
At one point after the two had sex in his condo, she recalled him telling her: “You can’t tell anybody, delete your texts, delete your call logs, like no one can ever know.”
Gray also was accused of massaging girls’ upper thighs in front of athletes and coaches, sometimes pulling down their leotards. He kissed girls on the face and cheek, and occasionally on the mouth. When spotting girls practicing handstands or swinging from bars, he would position himself or touch them inappropriately, which multiple coaches told police was not normal.
One of the former gymnasts told police that “everything that Terry did was ‘questionable.’ ”
According to the U.S. Center for SafeSport website, Gray was suspended from coaching USA Gymnastics in October 2019, because of alleged “sexual misconduct” involving a minor, and “physical misconduct.” He was suspended “from all contact” until Oct. 18, 2021, according to USA Gymnastics’ website.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
