Gymnastics Studio Owner Attracted to 12-Year-Old Girls: Report

RACINE COUNTY, WI — Authorities say a man accused of setting up a camera in the bathroom of the gymnastics studio that he owns has admitted to investigators that he is attracted to girls as young as 12 years old.

James Kivisto, 49, of Wind Lake, has been charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography and could face up to 150 years prison if he is convicted.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Racine County, Racine sheriff's investigators began an investigation after a man using the bathroom at the Wind Lake Gymnastics Center, 7923 S. Loomis Road, found a video camera hidden in the bathroom on March 12.

The complaint stated that the man took the video camera home with him, and reviewed the footage. He told authorities that among the footage he saw, he watched Kivisto setting up the camera, a high school girl adjusting her hair in a mirror, walking off camera, then re-appearing on-camera with a different outfit. He told deputies that he stopped watching at that point and contacted local authorities.

According to the complaint, Kivisto was met by authorities later that day and was questioned by them. The complaint stated that Kivisto admitted to placing the camera in the bathroom, that he uses the photos and video to masturbate, and looks through all the video from the camera to save the videos he is attracted to and delete the ones he is not attracted to.

The complaint stated that Kivisto admitted that "because he has worked with kids for such a long time, he is a good judge on how old a child might be just by looking at them," and is "attracted to young females and 12 years old is the youngest age female he is attracted to."

Investigators reported searching his computer and finding a "large number of photos and videos" of children getting dressed and undressed. An investigator noted that the computer contained a large number of nude photos and videos of child pornography.

Kivisto has owned and operated Wind Lake Gymnastic Center for approximately the past 11 years and has coached gymnastics since 1987 in both Racine County and Milwaukee County.

He is currently being held in the Racine County Jail on a $150,000 cash bond and is scheduled to have his preliminary hearing on March 21 at 9 a.m., according to court documents.

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