Former Camp Woodward coach accused of sexual misconduct with teenage gymnast
A suspended gymnastics coach who taught at the nationally renowned Woodward Camp was accused Monday of sexual misconduct with a teenage gymnast.
Nathaniel Singer, 26, was accused by state police at Rockview of groping and digitally penetrating a gymnast during a 2019 summer camp drill at one of the top training grounds in the country.
The gymnast said Singer “followed her around camp constantly” and made her feel uncomfortable, police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
Defense lawyer Lance Marshall did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Singer, of Connecticut, was charged with two felony counts of aggravated indecent assault, one felony count of corruption of minors and two misdemeanor counts of indecent assault.
He was arraigned Monday by District Judge Greg Koehle, who set bail at unsecured.
Singer and the company were named in a December lawsuit that alleged the organization improperly responded to the allegations.
A camp administrator and her assistant tried to dissuade the gymnast from reporting the allegations, attorney David Inscho wrote in the 21-page lawsuit. The lawsuit also alleged the pair secluded the gymnast in a conference room and told her to “stop spreading rumors” that could ruin Singer’s reputation.
“They also threatened that if she continued to talk about Singer’s assault that it would wreck her chance of being a gymnast in college,” Inscho wrote.
Singer was suspended as of July 2020 by the U.S. Center for SafeSport because he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a camper, according to the lawsuit. He’s barred from all contact with those involved with USA Gymnastics.
Powdr — Woodward Camp’s parent company — asked a judge in February to throw out some of the family’s claims. A judge has not yet ruled.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 13.
“The family is very happy to see that Singer was charged and will be held accountable through the criminal justice system, as well as civil,” Inscho said Monday.