Former Rockland Coach Accused Of Sexually Exploiting Athletes

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — A former diving coach in Rockland County, Victor Byrne, is accused of sexually exploiting two girls he was coaching in the 2000s.

“Victor Byrne allegedly used his position as a diving coach to sexually exploit young athletes," Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Wednesday. "This case illustrates that the passage of years will not prevent us from holding accountable those who prey on children.”

Byrne, now 56, was arrested Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, and presented in Orlando federal court.

As alleged in the indictment filed Aug. 17, in White Plains federal court and unsealed Wednesday, and in statements made Wednesday in Orlando federal court:

From in or about 2001 until at least in or about 2009, Byrne was a coach in Rockland County for a team of competitive divers. Victim-1 and Victim-2 were divers on his team. Both are adults today, and they are law enforcement officers, prosecutors said. Victim-1 is a police officer in New York. Victim-2 is a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations.

The defendant’s criminal conduct occurred repeatedly over a period of years, prosecutors said. Specifically, in July 2006, he knowingly took a 16-year-old from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Rockland County, New York with the intent to engage in illegal sexual activity with her, prosecutors said. In February 2008, he knowingly took a 16-year-old minor from New Jersey to Rockland County with the intent to engage in illegal sexual activity with her, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Byrne began abusing Victim-1 when she was about 14 years old and began abusing Victim-2 when she was 16.

Byrne, who lives in Orlando, is charged with two counts of transporting a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. Count One, which charges an offense that occurred in or about July 2006, carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Count Two, which charges an offense that occurred in or about February 2008, carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life.

The statutory mandatory minimum and maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Following the presentment, Judge David Baker ordered that Byrne be detained pending a hearing in Orland federal court scheduled for Sept. 12.