Former Marco YMCA tennis coach facing sexual battery charges

Published: Updated:
Christopher Pearson (Collier County Sheriff’s Office)

MARCO ISLAND, Fla.- A tennis instructor at the Glen Eagle Country Club is facing charges for lewd and lascivious molestation and sexual battery on a child under 12 years of age, according to a Marco Island Police Department arrest report.

Christopher Pearson, 49, a former coach at the Marco Island YMCA, is currently being held on $1 million bond.

Pearson is accused of showering and inappropriately touching two young girls multiple times throughout 2015 while they stayed with him at a family member’s condo on Marco Island.

One of the victims described how Pearson would often sleep naked in the bed with her, according to court documents.

The investigation into Pearson began in December 2015 when Marco Island police were notified by authorities in Michigan, where the two girls resided, that the children were touched inappropriately while on Marco Island beginning in February 2015.

A spokesperson for the Marco Island YMCA says Pearson has not worked at the center since May or June.

“I’m really shocked,” said former YMCA president Jim Curran, “We talked a lot about school… talked a lot about tennis. He seemed to be a nice guy.”

Pearson had also previously worked at the Greater Naples YMCA until 2013.

Pearson is facing life in prison for the charges against him.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.