Photo Courtesy of Google
Claros has been indicted for allegedly sexually assaulting a 12-year-old student for five years in his Richmond Hill home on Park Lane South.
By Forum Staff
A borough soccer coach has been indicted for allegedly sexually assaulting a 12-year-old student from 2013 through 2018 in his Richmond Hill residence, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz recently announced.
Jose Claros, 57, has been arraigned on a seven-count indictment charging him with course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, criminal sexual act in the first degree, and endangering the welfare of a child. Claros has been ordered to return to court on March 25.
According to the charges, during the Memorial Day Weekend in 2013, the victim played in an away soccer tournament where he met the defendant. Claros, who was a coach for the Metropolitan Oval Academy in Maspeth, drove the victim home and offered to privately train the youngster for free. The defendant met with the victim approximately one week later at the defendant’s home on Park Lane South, where after completing the drills, Claros allegedly kissed the boy, placed the victims’ hand on his chest and nipple and laid the victim’s head on his lap, where the child could feel that Claros was aroused.
According to the charges, Claros allegedly continued a course of sexual abuse, including fondling and oral sex, at Claros’s home after soccer drills and training. The complaint alleges this conduct continued until the victim was 17 years old.
“This is a very disturbing case,” Katz said. “The mother of this aspiring soccer player allowed her son to be alone with the defendant believing he would be a mentor and help her son realize his athletic potential. Instead, the defendant allegedly betrayed that trust and sexually abused the boy for years. Now the defendant will face justice in our courts for his alleged actions.”