Former Boulder swim coach formally charged with sexual assault
Aug. 4—A former Boulder swim coach accused of sexually assaulting multiple underage swimmers has been extradited to Boulder County and formally charged.
Jon Michael Beber, 52, was arrested in Atlanta in July.
He has now been formally charged with three counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, according to online court records.
Beber worked as a swim coach for the club team Boulder Swimming from 1997 through 2002.
According to an arrest affidavit, one of the named victims told police Beber would give her massages and stretches and that during some of those sessions Beber would touch her in inappropriate places.
She also said that during a trip, Beber made her come to his hotel room and tried to teach her to masturbate and watched from another room while she did.
A second named victim told police that Beber one day pulled her out of practice and into a private area and told her he wanted to have sex with her. Later that day, the woman said Beber raped her in the locker room.
According to an affidavit, those two swimmers eventually found out they had been through similar experiences and told their parents.
But according to a witness who was with Colorado Swimming at the time, Colorado Swimming received only "rumor and speculation" and no formal complaints were filed. The witness said parents decided not to take further action after Beber resigned from the team in 2002 when confronted with the allegations.
The witness said the information was passed on to USA Swimming in case Beber tried to coach again, and an official with USA Swimming confirmed Colorado Swimming passed on the allegations, but again no formal complaint was ever filed.
USA Swimming was the subject of lawsuits in 2020 out of California that alleged the organization failed to protect swimmers from abusive coaches.
A third named victim who did not come forward at the time told police that she would regularly go over to Beber's apartment while she was 16 and 17 to have sex with Beber, and other witnesses on the team told police they two confirmed at the time they were in a "relationship."
The woman told police that at the time she thought she and Beber were going to get married, but looking back realized the situation was "messed up."
The three named victims said Beber preyed on their insecurities and problems at home to try to isolate them.
Police interviewed other female swimmers on the team who said they were not sexually abused but did recall instances in which they suspected something was going on between Beber and the three named victims.
Those swimmers also agreed Beber was verbally abusive, would made comments about the girls' appearances and did not allow parents to watch practices.
The Boulder County District Attorney's Office is looking to speak to anyone who may have information about the case or may have also been a victim. According to the release, Beber also coached swim teams in Albany, N.Y.; Atlanta and Florida.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Kristin Weisbach with the District Attorney's Office at 303-441-3811 or via email at kweisbach@bouldercounty.org.
Beber is free on $30,000 bond and is set for a preliminary hearing Oct. 10.
