Academy Coach Chris Flores Arrested Amid Accusations Of Sexual Misconduct With Minors
Posted on August 17, 2022 | Sexual Abuse
Chris Flores, also known as “Coach Frogg,” was arrested in Bakersfield for sexual assault of a minor, according to Sgt. Maria Lopez with the Santa Ana Police Department. Flores was a prominent coach at the elite STARS Preparatory Academy headquartered in Santa Ana, California. Flores was booked into the Orange County Jail and is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail, police said.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced in a press release that the 37-year-old Flores faces four felony counts of lewd acts upon a child aged 14 or 15 and two felony count of sexual penetration by a foreign object of a victim under the age of 16. According to the District Attorney’s office, He faces a maximum sentence of six years and four months in state prison if convicted.
“This predator used his position of trust as a coach and athletic director to prey on children for his own sexual satisfaction,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a press release . “These athletes were there to train in an effort to excel at their sport, not to be victimized by a pedophile. What happened to this young girl is horrific and the youth sports community as a whole has been victimized by the actions of a grown man who not only abused his victim but abused that position of trust.”
Flores, who coached high-profile athletes including reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young of Alabama and Clemson starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, has been fired from STARS Preparatory Academy and STARS SOCAL, the academy’s owner announced Wednesday on Instagram.
Late last week, allegations of grooming and inappropriate contact with girls surfaced and police began investigating him, according to the Orange County Register, this is not the first time Flores has been accused of sexual misconduct, according to Uiagalelei’s father, Dave, who said Flores “tried to do that to my niece” two years ago.
“I just pray that this time around, that all the victims that haven’t come forward — because we know there’s more — I pray that you guys understand that coming forward is the best thing you can do to stop a predator like this man,” Uiagalelei said.
In a press release, police said Flores, a 37-year-old Bellflower resident, was investigated based on “allegations made by two victims, who indicated Flores sexually assaulted them.”
The first of the allegations was brought to the attention of detectives on Aug. 5, when a 14-year-old Riverside girl who was coached by Flores at the STARS Preparatory Academy said “Flores sexually assaulted her multiple times throughout the year in 2021,” police said.
“The victim reported numerous incidents occurring in the cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana. The STARS Preparatory Academy held a training program on the campus of Calvary Chapel High School in Santa Ana where several of these assaults were reported to have occurred,” the release added.
A recording of a phone call between a girl and Flores shared with KTLA includes the man pressuring the girl to join him on a date and him asking if she was “sure you got rid of everything,” a recorded that police confirmed they received.
Police added that they “learned that a second victim, a 15-year-old girl from Irvine, made similar allegations against Flores to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department sometime in August 2022.”
“That incident is being investigated by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department,” the release said.
Police said they also believe there are other victims, and anyone with information is asked to call Detective Matthew Thomas at 714-245-8346, email him at mthomas@santa-ana.org or call Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.
Manly, Stewart & Finaldi has represented hundreds of child sexual abuse victims of teachers and coaches in California schools and Universities. We have secured settlements totaling more than $40 million for families of victims abused in the San Bernardino County schools. We were the lead attorneys helping sexual abuse victims in recover $852 million from the University of Southern California. We are also the lead attorneys representing Olympic athletes and victims of former US Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Team Doctor Larry Nassar and secured $890 million in settlements for our clients. We secured a $243.6 million settlement on behalf of sexual abuse victims at UCLA. In each of these cases we have helped victims and families get justice by conducting a thorough investigation of the organization and the school. We secured a settlement of $140 million on behalf of 81 child sexual abuse victims at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles. This was the largest child sexual abuse settlement by a public school district in history. In many cases we have discovered that administrators and executives know that the perpetrator was a danger to children and either did nothing or actively covered up the crimes.