A Las Vegas gymnastics coach was arrested Monday after two of his students accused him of squeezing their buttocks at a gymnastics studio, police said.
Michael Nestor, 21, faces two felony charges of lewdness with a child under the age of 14 and two felony charges of first degree kidnapping of a minor, according to Las Vegas Justice Court records.
Nestor was a gymnastics coach at the Go For It USA gymnastics studio, located near North Rancho Drive and West Craig Road in the northwest valley. In a statement Tuesday, the gym said Nestor had been fired after it retained an outside law firm to conduct an investigation.
“We have zero tolerance for inappropriate, unsafe or abusive conduct,” the statement read. “We are unwavering in our standard that everyone must act professionally and respectfully to provide our athletes with a safe and rewarding experience in the sport of gymnastics.”
Nestor denied the kids’ allegations in an interview with police Monday, telling a detective he had never inappropriately touched a child, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.
Coach offered lollipop before touching, police say
In the report, a boy whose name is redacted told an interviewer at the Southern Nevada Children’s Advocacy Center that Nestor gave the boy a lollipop in the studio’s restroom after Nestor offered it to him if the boy washed his hands while at gymnastics camp on June 17.
While the boy licked the lollipop, Nestor “crouched down and squeezed and slapped his butt lightly over his clothes,” according to the report. The boy told police Nestor touched his butt for about 10 seconds.
“(Redacted) could feel his butt being squished and could feel Michael’s breath on his neck,” the report said. “(Redacted) asked Michael why he was doing this, and Michael did not respond.”
The boy said he ran from Nestor and hid in a bathroom stall, but struggled to later leave the stall because Nestor was blocking the stall door, according to the report. Nestor told him “please don’t go” while he was blocking the door, the boy told police.
The boy eventually pulled the door hard enough to escape the stall and ran from the restroom, police said.
The studio’s general manager told investigators she showed Nestor surveillance footage that did not align with his version of events after the boy’s mother came to her with concerns about Nestor touching her son’s buttocks. She said she had never before received complaints about Nestor.
She told police that Nestor’s demeanor was a “pure panic attack” when she confronted him. The general manager placed Nestor on leave pending an investigation and said she later saw him crying and breathing heavily outside her office window, according to the report.
Second student alleges touching
When the boy ran to his sister and friend inside the studio after Nestor touched him, his friend told him Nestor had also touched him months earlier, the report said.
The other boy, whose name is also redacted in the report, told a Southern Nevada Children’s Advocacy Center interviewer that Nestor had squeezed his buttocks while he was washing his hands. He said Nestor stopped touching him when another person walked into the bathroom, according to the report.
“(Redacted) stated that this caught him off guard and made him feel uncomfortable,” the report said. “He stated that he felt it inside of his stomach and his heart was beating because he didn’t know what was happening.”
Coach: ‘I didn’t touch them’
In an interview with police on Monday, Nestor said he was having stomach problems on June 17, resulting in him going to the bathroom several times that day, according to the report.
Nestor said he had brought a lollipop into the restroom to settle his stomach and saw the boy, but did not interact with him, the report said.
Asked if the two boys were lying about the allegations, Nestor said “I guess,” adding, “I didn’t touch them.”
A 2021 child protective services report against Nestor alleged he had touched a friend’s genitals when he was 16, according to the report. Nestor told police the incident was “determined to be boys exploring.”
Nestor’s next court date is scheduled for July 2, according to online court records.
Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253.
