“As the girl started to climb the wall, Johnson put his hand on her buttocks and started to squeeze,” the witness said in the affidavit.
The “incident” being referred to occurred on April 23rd at a New Jersey Diamond Gymnastics gym. Patrick Johnson, 33, was a Diamond employee, and is now being charged with second-degree sexual assault and third-degree endangering the welfare of the child.
Johnson’s manager says that it is “common sense” not to touch children on the buttocks when they are being assisted on the wall.
The 9-year-old girl told Morris County Detective Janine Ponnwitz about the inappropriate “touching,” and added that after climbing the rock wall, she was “rolling around on the floor” when Johnson put his foot on her back and told her to stop.
Johnson himself told East Hanover Detective John Fox that he has placed his hand on childrens’ buttocks’ several times to help them in climbing the wall. Looks like those days are over.
[Via: Daily Record]
[Photo Via: ralphhogaboom]
