A prominent Orange County youth coach was convicted Tuesday of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a young woman.
A Superior Court jury found Christopher Martin Flores, a former coach and trainer at Stars Prep Academy, guilty of seven felony counts, including four counts of lewd acts on a child aged 14 or 15, two counts of sexual penetration by a stranger object of a victim younger than 16, and one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object involving a 22-year-old female.
The jury deliberated for several hours, according to Orange County Register. Sentencing is scheduled for October 4.
Known as “Coach Frogg” in Orange County athletic circles, the Bellflower native sometimes worked with high-profile athletes, such as Bryce Young, former quarterback at Santa Ana’s Mater Dei High School. Young, who went on to play at Alabama, won the 2021 Heisman Trophy and was selected first overall in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.
Flores also worked with DJ Uiagalelei, a quarterback from St. John Bosco, who now plays at Florida State University.
Stars academy, which provides sports performance training for middle school athletes, is well known in Southern California sports circles. Flores was a co-owner, trainer and coach at the academy.
The academy at one point moved from Anaheim to the campus of Calvary Chapel High School in Santa Ana, where a former soccer player at the school said she was first attacked by Flores in January 2021. She was 14 at the time and in eighth grade.
Prosecutors alleged that Flores used his position of trust to prey on young teenagers. They say that, in addition to the teenager he is accused of assaulting, at least two others have made similar allegations against him.
Flores denies wrongdoing.
According to Orange County Register, Prosecutors say the abuse occurred in 2021 and included “inappropriate touching, kissing and digital penetration.” He also allegedly sexually assaulted a 22-year-old woman who worked for him during a party at a home in 2022.
The Stars academy severed ties with Flores in 2022, after he was first charged.
After the verdict was announced, Flores was placed in handcuffs and taken into custody.
City News Service contributed to this report.