Former volunteer Ashland swim coach faces new sex offense charges - Gate House
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By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune October 02. 2014 4:23PM Former volunteer Ashland swim coach faces new sex offense charges A former Ashland swim coach convicted of having sex with an underage team member last year was arrested Tuesday on new sex offense charges. Jackson County sheriff's deputies arrested Camren Mitzel, 25, on charges of first- and second-degree online sexual corruption of a child. As a result of his arrest, he now also faces possible prison time for violating his probation in an earlier case on similar charges. In 2013, Mitzel, a volunteer coach for the Ashland High School swim team his father coached, was arrested on four counts of third-degree rape and four counts of second-degree sex abuse after police determined he'd had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old female member of the team. As the case progressed through the court system, Mitzel's father was cited by police for failure to report child abuse as a mandatory reporter and subsequently removed from his coaching position. Mitzel ultimately took a negotiated plea and was sentenced to 5 years probation on a single count of second-degree sex abuse, with the remainder of the charges dismissed. The Jackson County District Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new charges, but Oregon law requires that a suspect have intentionally taken a "substantial step toward physically meeting or encountering the child" to be found guilty of first-degree online sexual corruption of a child. Mitzel is scheduled to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 13 for a pre-trial conference on the new sex offense charges and at 9 a.m. Oct. 31 for a hearing on the probation violation. Reach reporter Thomas Moriarty at 541-776-4471, or by email at [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at @thomasdmoriarty . http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141002/NEWS/141009916 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->