Philadelphia athletic trainer accused of raping teenage girls

A Pennsylvania man has been charged with multiple sex crimes after teenage girls accused the volunteer trainer of sexually assaulting them.

Timothy Foster, 38, was arrested in Philadelphia around 10 a.m. Thursday. The Philadelphia Police Department’s Special Victims Unit arrested Foster after two teenage girls accused their coach of sex crimes. The volunteer athletic trainer was charged with rape, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and bribery of minors.

Foster was a volunteer coach with the Port Richmond Tigers Sports Athletic Association – a self described “Non-profit organization dedicated to providing excellent, clean team sports activities to our neighborhood youth.”

The victims, aged 13 and 14, say they were sexually assaulted by their coach. On January 9, a 14-year-old girl informed police that she had been sexually assaulted by Foster. Two days later, a 13-year-old girl told police that police said she was also a victim of the bus.

Captain James Kearney of the Special Victims Unit revealed the trainer hosted sleepovers at his home – where some of the sexual assaults took place while other teenage girls were present.

“They stayed at his house and young teenage girls stayed at his house,” Kearney said said. “They happened in other places and I won’t disclose them here, but there were other places where this happened.”

Kearney said the child sexual abuse “has been happening since late winter of last year.”

After WTXF TV“Authorities say they found lengthy messages exchanged between Foster and the teenage girls on social media.”

CBS News Philadelphia reported: “Police say it is predatory behavior and they fear there may be more children who are said to have been hunted.”

Anyone with information or additional victims is urged to contact the Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3251.

Foster has been a volunteer coach with the Port Richmond Tigers Sports Athletic Association for several years.

The Port Richmond Tigers Sports Association said it was “truly heartbroken by this tragic breach of trust”.

The sports league released a statement that read: “At this time we have not received any information to suggest that these crimes were committed during our activities. However, once we were informed of the allegations, we took appropriate steps to ensure the participants were safe and to support the participants and families involved.”

The youth sports organization urged everyone to “listen to and believe their children on these matters”.

The Port Richmond Tigers Sports Association said it would continue to cooperate with the investigation.