Oregon Swim Coach Mitchell Kelly Acquitted of Sexual Abuse Charges

After initially being arrested as a 17-year-old minor in 2014, former Oregon swim coach Mitchell Kelly has been acquitted and found not guilty on four sexual abuse charges according to The Oregonian.

During the court proceedings, that also included a retracted confession by Kelly, the defense team argued that his inappropriate exposure was due to a “wardrobe malfunction.”

Here is the full report from The Oregonian detailing Kelly’s testimony:

On the witness stand Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Judge Jim Fun’s courtroom, the teen said he’d just finished his junior year at Sunset High School and was working as a lifeguard and swim teacher at the Bethany club on June 23.

That day, Kelly took two boys and two girls into the sauna after their pool time. He liked to show them other parts of the club’s aquatic area during class while he talked to them about water safety, he said.

Inside the steam room, the boys were busy chatting and goofing off while Kelly instructed the girls on some yoga poses, he said. The girls were up on the benches as he tried to guide them into a tabletop pose on hands and knees, a downward dog pose with their rear ends in the air and finally a push-up position.

The defendant testified he was shirtless and wearing only some shorts that he’d been using as swim trunks. Days earlier, the zipper on the shorts had broken, and his mother had sewn it partially closed, he said.

As he was helping the girls, he said, he heard one of them say, “Ew! What’s that?”

“I have no idea what she’s talking about,” Kelly testified. “I look down and I am exposed to these children.”

The defense argued that Kelly’s mother did not properly sew the zipper of his shorts, and that led him to exposing himself to the children.

The Oregonian also reports that Kelly initially confessed to touching the girls inappropriately and that he may have been aroused, but the defense argued that the confession was due to coercion.

According to The Oregonian, the jury deliberated “for much of Thursday afternoon” before finding Kelly not guilty on all counts.

Although, several people that know Kelly who requested that Swimming World update its article from 2014 on the arrest state that the jury only took a few minutes to make the decision.

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Christo Carlin Fay

8 years ago

If he was acquitted why did you put a picture of his mug shot?