USA Gymnastics
A 21-year-old gymnast from Florida has been arrested and charged with position of child pornography in the latest scandal to rock the sport. Alexander Katchalov was taken into custody on January 30 by the Polk County Sheriff in Lakeland, Florida, just outside of Tampa. Katchalov is a coach at Elite World Gymnastics Training Complex in the town. In total, Katchalov is charged with 22 counts of child pornography and is being held at Polk County Jail. Additional charges are pending in the case.
WFLA reports that detectives found 21 videos and images of boys and girls “being sexually battered or displayed in a lewd manner.” The station says that Katchalov has admitted to downloading child pornography and has been doing so since 2011. The suspect has also said that he never abused a child and that he thought he had his problem under control. The children in question were between the ages of 3 and 12 years old.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Detectives Found ‘Thousands & Thousands’ of Files of Child Pornography
21 yr old gymnastics coach arrested on child porn.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told the media that Katchalov coached children between the ages of 3 and 15. According to the gym’s website, it is operated by Katchalov’s parents, Misha and Irina. The Fox Tampa Bay report says that detectives found “thousands and thousands” of files related to child pornography, some of the devices for downloading were located at the training complex.
2. Authorities Believe There Could Be More Victims
Screengrab via WTSP
Sheriff Judd told the media that detectives do not believe that Katchalov abused children or created child pornography himself. Judd said, “We know those that download and engage in child porn, both still photographs and videos, have a proclivity to or are subject to abusing children. There’s absolutely no evidence Alexander has done that at this time. But there are a lot of people who do business here and they have very young children down to three years of age… We want to make sure we don’t miss anything at all… If a child has ever come home and said he or she was inappropriately touched, we want to know about it.”
The WFLA report includes the information that Katchalov told authorities that he would go online posing as a teenager in attempts to solicit child pornography. According to Fox Tampa Bay, the sheriff’s department were led to Katchalov thanks to a tip.
3. Katchalov Appeared in International Trampoline & Tumbling Competitions
Katchalov’s profile at the U.S. Gymnastics website says that he has appeared in competitions as far away as Sofia, Bulgaria. His program was in trampoline and tumbling. Katchalov last appeared in a competition in Utah in 2015. On his Facebook page, Katchalov says that he also works at a 2Infinity Extreme Air Sports facility in Lakeland, starting in the job in September 2016. That same month, Katchalov said he was in a relationship, though in his about section, Katchalov says he’s single. In his bio, Katchalov says that was home schooled. Katchalov created a Go Fund Me page to help him raise money for a paintball field in Lakeland. The campaign goal of $1 million received no bids. The description of the plan reads verbatim:
Hello my name is Alexander. I am looking to start a paintball park for every one to enjoy and have a amazing time. the funds will go tords the field to get all the proper safty equipment and all the props and every thing we will need too be abule to open the doors! We want to make a famaly friendly environment. follow us and soport usThank you so much.
4. The Elite World Gymnastics Gym Is Run by Katchalov’s Sister & Brother In Law
Facebook/Andrew MuzzarelliKatchalova’s sister, Kristina, and her husband, Andrew Muzzarelli.
A blurb on the Elite World Gymnastics website reads in part, “Together, as a family, Owners Misha and Irina Katchalov strive to push every athlete to the best of their ability and they see every child as a unique individual.” The gym is a family affair with Katchalov’s sister, Kristina Katchalova Muzzarelli, being the manager, according to her Facebook page. Her husband is Andrew Muzzarelli, according to his Facebook page he is also a coach at Elite World Gymnastics. That profile says that Muzzarelli is also a performer with Cirque du Soleil.
5. This Is the 2nd Child Sex Crime the Gym Has Been Linked to in the Last 4 Years
Florida Department of Law EnforcementJustin Thomas Henry’s mugshot.
This is the second time in four years that the Elite World Gymnastics gym has been linked to a child sex crime. In July 2014, the Tampa Bay Times reported that Justin Thomas Henry, 21, was arrested and accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl. At the time of his arrest, Henry was a coach at the gym. The Times report said at the time that Henry was found in his victim’s closet by the girl’s mother. A few months earlier, Henry was arrested for taking three minor girls to Clearwater, Florida, without their parent’s permission. It was alleged that Henry had allowed the girl’s to drink alcohol and asked one “when he could call her his girlfriend,” the Times report says. Online records show that Henry remains in prison in Florida on charges of child molestation and battery.
