A former Union City soccer coach was arrested Thursday on suspicion of molesting an 11-year-old girl, police said.
Victor Jaime Juarez, 44, was arrested at his home in Union City and taken to jail on suspicion of lewd acts with a minor child and annoying or molesting a minor child, Union City police Sgt. Steven Mendez said.
Juarez worked as a private girl’s youth soccer coach in Union City for several years until he moved to Alameda as a soccer league manager, Mendez said.
The allegations in this case relate to the suspect’s tenure in Union City. The victim was 11 years old at the time of the alleged acts, according to Mendez. The charges include physical and emotional abuse of a minor, police said.
The case began May 3 when Union City police got a complaint of alleged misbehavior between the girl and her former soccer coach, Mendez said. After an investigation, the district attorney issued a felony arrest warrant for Juarez, the sergeant said.
Though Juarez has no prior criminal history and is not listed in any sex offender databases, detectives are trying to determine whether or not the alleged incident was isolated, Mendez said.
“Although to date we only have this one allegation of misconduct with this victim, he’s been around other children,” Mendez said. “We just don’t know; it’s a sensitive matter.”
Parents said Juarez was at one time the Union City Youth Soccer League director. He no longer holds that position. They said he loved coaching but noticed he wasn’t around much the last couple of months.
Parents who know him well were in disbelief Thursday. One of his neighbors refused to believe the allegations.
“I don’t think it’s true,” Miriam Hernandez said. “I don’t believe it; they’re a really good family.”
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Detective Angela Fonseca at (510) 675-5283 or afonseca@unioncity.org.
NBC Bay Area’s Cheryl Hurd contributed to this report.
