COLLIN COUNTY, TX - Figure skating coach Benjamin Shroats, who previously worked with Olympian Amber Glenn, was arrested on February 18 on allegations of sexual misconduct with students.
Shroats, 47, has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of indecency with a child, according to police records reviewed by PEOPLE. He was booked into a jail in Collin County on a $100,000 bond. The two charges were based on accounts from two different victims, police confirmed.
The investigation began on February 15 after a report was filed alleging that Shroats had engaged in inappropriate relationships with two of his athletes, one of the relationships reportedly began when the athlete was a minor, police said.
Police did not share additional details about when the incidents occurred. Shroats is a well-known coach in the Dallas area and trained Glenn when she was younger, before she moved from Texas to Colorado Springs to train with her current coach, Damon Allen.
Glenn started working with Shroats around age nine, she said in a 2014 interview with Figure Skaters Online. "He’s like my rink dad or big brother, making sure I stay on track," Glenn said of Shroats. "While he can be relaxed and chilled, he can also turn up the heat when needed. I can completely rely on him to be organized and consistent."
Shroats is a longtime member of the Dallas Figure Skating Club, and the club's president sent out an email to members about his arrest on Wednesday.
"We know news like this is upsetting, and we want our families to know we take concerns involving our members and the adult coaches who train them very seriously," Dallas Figure Skating Club President Mary Pottenger said, while adding that the club does not hire coaches themselves — "All coaches who provide private lessons do so as independent coaches, and lesson arrangements are made directly between families and the coach."
Shroats, 47, has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of indecency with a child, according to police records reviewed by PEOPLE. He was booked into a jail in Collin County on a $100,000 bond. The two charges were based on accounts from two different victims, police confirmed.
The investigation began on February 15 after a report was filed alleging that Shroats had engaged in inappropriate relationships with two of his athletes, one of the relationships reportedly began when the athlete was a minor, police said.
Police did not share additional details about when the incidents occurred. Shroats is a well-known coach in the Dallas area and trained Glenn when she was younger, before she moved from Texas to Colorado Springs to train with her current coach, Damon Allen.
Glenn started working with Shroats around age nine, she said in a 2014 interview with Figure Skaters Online. "He’s like my rink dad or big brother, making sure I stay on track," Glenn said of Shroats. "While he can be relaxed and chilled, he can also turn up the heat when needed. I can completely rely on him to be organized and consistent."
Shroats is a longtime member of the Dallas Figure Skating Club, and the club's president sent out an email to members about his arrest on Wednesday.
"We know news like this is upsetting, and we want our families to know we take concerns involving our members and the adult coaches who train them very seriously," Dallas Figure Skating Club President Mary Pottenger said, while adding that the club does not hire coaches themselves — "All coaches who provide private lessons do so as independent coaches, and lesson arrangements are made directly between families and the coach."
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