Coach, teacher accused of touching boys at Disney resort faces more charges

BAY LAKE, Fla. — A 26-year-old youth baseball coach accused of inappropriately touching boys in a Walt Disney World resort pool appeared before a judge Friday on additional charges.

Nicholas Groth, who was in town from Wisconsin for a baseball tournament, admitted to deputies that he touched the buttocks of three boys -- ages 7, 12, and 13 -- Sunday night while at Disney’s Pop Century Resort, according to an arrest report.

Detectives filed new charges against Groth that will require him to spend another night in the Orange County Jail without bond.

The father of the 7-year-old said he confronted Groth, who Channel 9 learned is also a second-grade teacher, after his son told him what happened.

The man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he scoured the resort and the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex searching for the suspect. When he found Groth, the father said Groth immediately denied the allegations and walked away.

Investigators said they were able to track Groth down, because he told the boys he’d be at a large field at the sports complex Wednesday morning, and he told them which team he coaches.

Lui Damiani is the executive director of Victim Service Center of Central Florida.

Damiani said such incidents aren’t uncommon in Orange County.

“It’s most unfortunate that they're on vacation, but this could happen any day, anytime, at any place across the country and it does,” he said. “We had 37 cases of those, 24 percent involved minors. That's pretty staggering.”

Orange County deputies said it’s the second such incident at Walt Disney World this week.

Aman Bhatia, 27, of India, was accused of groping six people in the wave pool at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon waterpark. Investigators said most of the girls were younger than 16.

Groth told a judge Friday that his parents hired Lyle Mazin as his attorney.

Mazin said Groth has no criminal history. He said his client’s fellow coaches interviewed the children on the baseball team he coaches, and no one indicated any concerns about Groth.

Groth, who has coached children for nine years, told detectives he was concerned that he’d never be able to coach again. The school district that employs him said Friday they’re investigating the allegations made against him.

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