A man who coached elite swim clubs in Boulder 20 years ago was found guilty on Tuesday of sexual assault after three now-adult victims brought cases to law enforcement in 2022.
Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty filed charges against Jon Beber, 54, about two decades after those crimes occurred.
Beber coached for the club team Boulder Swimming from 1997 to 2002 and left Colorado that year when allegations initially surfaced and some parents confronted him, Dougherty said.
At that time, no reports were made to law enforcement, and Dougherty said that the defendant also coached in Atlanta, Florida and New York.
In Boulder on Tuesday, a jury found Beber guilty of three counts of sex assault on a child by one in a position of trust.
A witness testified during the trial that swimmers at the time reported the abuse to Colorado Swimming and USA Swimming, but that because they didn’t file formal complaints with law enforcement, no one took any action against Beber. That policy has since changed.
“The defendant sexually abused swimmers whom he coached,” Dougherty said in a statement. “Despite the passage of time, and because of the courage and strength of the victims, the defendant is being held responsible.”
Beber will be sentenced in July.
