144 replies to this topic

[supermom]

I wonder what the family of this guy is going through, right now. I wonder if they are reading these posts. After reading the texts that were exchanged-provided by news10- I think I owe that family an apology. I shouldn't have wished for his death. He is obviously a very sick individual.

I also distinctly heard the President of the Sea Otters say this morning on the morning news that absolutely no swim children were involved in this. Obviously, after reading these texts it is apparent that there are children out there that were abused by this guy. Further, It is obvious by the same article that the investigation started at least in March. So, She lied. And she withheld that information for several months.

I will not allow my children back at that pool until she is removed from her position; unless she can give a damned good reason why she withheld such incredible news from parents.

That pool needs to be shut down. Until the Sea Otters make amends for this.

[bordercolliefan]

I also distinctly heard the President of the Sea Otters say this morning on the morning news that absolutely no swim children were involved in this. Obviously, after reading these texts it is apparent that there are children out there that were abused by this guy. Further, It is obvious by the same article that the investigation started at least in March. So, She lied. And she withheld that information for several months.

I will not allow my children back at that pool until she is removed from her position; unless she can give a damned good reason why she withheld such incredible news from parents.

That pool needs to be shut down. Until the Sea Otters make amends for this.

What are you talking about??!!

First, there is no evidence that children on the swim team were abused. So how exactly did the Sea Otters president lie?

Nor is there any evidence that she knew about the investigation "for several months." Law enforcement officers generally do not inform all and sundry about ongoing investigations.

And why would the pool be shut down?? Sea Otters are only one of many users.

I think you've gone off the deep end, ha ha.

[2kids4me]

I doubt the swim team president would know about a police investigation. I'm sure she found out shortly after he was arrested. If it is determined that other coaches were involved, then I could see stopping the swim team. But, to punish 300 innocent kids because of one sick individual's actions, doesn't make any sense. As long as he's gone, they should be fine. I'm sure the Sea Otters will really look at their hiring procedures and background checks in the future - although since he has no record, I'm not sure what they could have done. I do know the team has had a few issues in the last few years, so I feel bad for them. They may have an uphill road to fix their reputation. If nothing else, this will open everyone's eyes to the danger. I always try to look for the learning experience when something so awful happens.

[supermom]

What are you talking about??!!

First, there is no evidence that children on the swim team were abused. So how exactly did the Sea Otters president lie?

Nor is there any evidence that she knew about the investigation "for several months." Law enforcement officers generally do not inform all and sundry about ongoing investigations.

And why would the pool be shut down?? Sea Otters are only one of many users.

I think you've gone off the deep end, ha ha.

Whats the Ha ha about? Weird.

Reread your articles.

Further, consider the fact that the younger groups of Sea Otters have for several weeks now, had lessons in the pool while the general public is welcome to use the other pools (lap, bounce house, and toy wading). Dont' tell me the leadership there didnt know. You really think people are that stupid? Like the cops didn't go in there during their investigation and start pulling HRO files and stuff?

How many kids has this guy had access to? How many teams competed against the sea otters since this kid has been a member there?

Do you have nay idea about the depth of this; yet you laugh?

This is a huge-big-deal.

[2kids4me]

She was joking about her "deep end" pun. Geez.

Why in the world would the cops tell a swim team president about a serious investigation like this?! Please. She isn't even paid to hold that position. She is a parent volunteer! If the cops made their investigation known to the swim board, THEY would be the stupid ones. In order to pull of a sting of this seriousness, I doubt anyone outside the investigation team knew about it.

[supermom]

She was joking about her "deep end" pun. Geez.

Why in the world would the cops tell a swim team president about a serious investigation like this?! Please. She isn't even paid to hold that position. She is a parent volunteer! If the cops made their investigation known to the swim board, THEY would be the stupid ones. In order to pull of a sting of this seriousness, I doubt anyone outside the investigation team knew about it.

Because they have to-by law. That's why.

[bordercolliefan]

How many kids has this guy had access to? How many teams competed against the sea otters since this kid has been a member there?

When I asked my daughters about it, they told me that there is no opportunity for any inappropriate conduct by a coach. They said there are always kids and other coaches all around -- "even in the bathroom there are always a ton of people going in and out."

So I think your implication that this coach was molesting swimmers left and right is probably off-base.

[swmr545]

The email that was cited was very disturbing

[Aurora427]

This was a federal investigation. The swim team board is comprised of all parent volunteers. The president would not have known anything about this until after the arrest was made. I can ask her if you would like??? Yes I am a team parent. We were notified late Tuesday night before the story went public. I am shocked and horrified and disgusted. Eric was after the nine year old boy in this set up situation. This was not a statutory rape issue. He wanted the young child. No one I know would have ever suspected pedophile where he was concerned. It's disturbing that such a vile and evil creature had access to our children and especially to them in the locker rooms. I am pissed that the FBI investigation took so long though. They knew he was working for the swim team this summer. With how long he had been there they had to know they were putting our kids at risk. We all knew him. The kids all loved him. Our kids safety was secondary to the agent building the online “relationship” with Eric. They knowingly allowed him to sign on as a swim coach for the league and prolonged the investigation to get a better criminal charge and the probability of a longer jail sentence. They have e mails from Eric admitting unimagiable things he had already done with young boys. They put every child on this team at risk for this bust (for over two months!!) and that is disgusting!

[4thgenFolsomite]

This was a federal investigation. The swim team board is comprised of all parent volunteers. The president would not have known anything about this until after the arrest was made. I can ask her if you would like??? Yes I am a team parent. We were notified late Tuesday night before the story went public. I am shocked and horrified and disgusted. Eric was after the nine year old boy in this set up situation. This was not a statutory rape issue. He wanted the young child. No one I know would have ever suspected pedophile where he was concerned. It's disturbing that such a vile and evil creature had access to our children and especially to them in the locker rooms. I am pissed that the FBI investigation took so long though. They knew he was working for the swim team this summer. With how long he had been there they had to know they were putting our kids at risk. We all knew him. The kids all loved him. Our kids safety was secondary to the agent building the online “relationship” with Eric. They knowingly allowed him to sign on as a swim coach for the league and prolonged the investigation to get a better criminal charge and the probability of a longer jail sentence. They have e mails from Eric admitting unimagiable things he had already done with young boys. They put every child on this team at risk for this bust (for over two months!!) and that is disgusting!

While I totally get the outrage you must be feeling right now, I have to guess that the cops are as disgusted by this guy as you are and wanted to make sure they had him on something huge so they could put him away somewhere dark. They might night have had enough of a case without taking the time to build the relationship and then catch him in the sting. I am sure they took precautions to be sure no other kids were at risk on the swim team and to then make sure they had him safely off the streets. If they had moved any sooner, they might have not have had enough to make him stick and then your kids and others might still have been at risk.

Glad all the kids on the team are okay!

[chris v]

I would like to think that he was under pretty heavy surveillance, especially with the nature of this case and the fact he worked with kids.

[2kids4me]

Because they have to-by law. That's why.

Just curious - what law would this be? I don't see why a volunteer board member would have knowledge of an FBI investigation.

[Carl G]

While I totally get the outrage you must be feeling right now, I have to guess that the cops are as disgusted by this guy as you are and wanted to make sure they had him on something huge so they could put him away somewhere dark. They might night have had enough of a case without taking the time to build the relationship and then catch him in the sting. I am sure they took precautions to be sure no other kids were at risk on the swim team and to then make sure they had him safely off the streets. If they had moved any sooner, they might have not have had enough to make him stick and then your kids and others might still have been at risk.

Glad all the kids on the team are okay!

I disagree. He should not be put away somewhere dark. He should be put in the general prison population. Then he will receive his real punishment.

[cddub]

I read the federal complaint last night. Until you read it, you shouldn't really blame anyone for lying, hiding things, etc.

It looks like the Agent was interacting with another person (who we now know was Nick Perry) over the course of several weeks about arranging sex posing as the father of a 13 year old and 9 year old and were scheduling the encounter for Monday. Mr Perry then said last week that he knew someone who might be interested and asked if it was "cool" if he could join in. It wasn't until Sunday night that the Agent received the email from Eric Johnston that he was interested. That's when Eric gave the Agent in several emails all the information about his past experience with young boys, fact that he has a 13 yo boy friend, etc. The Agent then looked up Eric in several sources (Facebook, DMV, etc.). However, not until after the arrest on Monday when Eric showed up at the hotel, did the Feds seem to know that he was a swim coach on a youth team. Keep in mind there was a period of only about 24 hours between his identification and arrest.

The Sea Otters board moved very quickly with an emergency meeting Monday night and notified the parents immediately about the incident. I don't see how any blame could be placed on them. The President never said that there was no way any swimmers were victimized, in fact, she said that all the parents were notified so they could talk to their children and get help if needed.

This was a situation where Eric stumbled his way into a sex sting operation and he was arrested basically within 24 hours of his involvement. As a parent with two children on the team who have interacted with Eric for years, I am horrified that they were exposed, but thankful that Eric was caught. This was a complete shock to anyone who knows Eric from the team and he obviously lived a life of deception. The Feds have a lot of evidence here and I trust that the legal process will ensure Eric will never have a chance to prey on innocent children again.

Edited by cddub, 22 June 2012 - 08:26 AM.

[SacKen]

I disagree. He should not be put away somewhere dark. He should be put in the general prison population. Then he will receive his real punishment.

trudat

Those small excerpts in the News10 article are disturbing. I'm sure there is much worse that they couldn't reveal. Thank gawd he was caught so young before he had decades to abuse children, as someone like Sandusky was allowed to do.

It has been proven time and time again that there is no fixing people with these "interests", as this animal calls it. People like this are more dangerous to society than a gang bangin' thug. As such, I believe corporal punishment should be the minimum sentence. Since our death row system is a joke, Gen Pop is the next best thing.

To be quite honest, if anyone ever abused my children in this manner, it would take all my will to not look for any opportunity to get within striking distance of the scumbag.