Coach For Special-Needs Athletes Charged With Sexual Battery
(CBS) -- The founder and coach of a suburban gymnastics organization for special-needs athletes is accused of sexually abusing two girls during a trip to Georgia.
According to the website for Elite Stars, Patty Hermann founded the team in 2003. She and several others coached more than 150 students across several sports.
Last spring, in a competition in the Atlanta area, disturbing accusations surfaced. Two juvenile athletes told their parents the head coach had abused during them during the trip, Sgt. Dana Pierce of the Cobb County, Ga. Police Department tells WBBM Newsradio.
Hermann, 48, is charged with three counts of sexual battery against a minor, and one count of aggravated sexual battery.
She was arrested near her home in Schaumburg over the weekend and has waived extradition.
Hermann's next-door neighbor, Anna Mieczkowski, says Hermann has been kind to her children, teaching a daughter with Down's Syndrome how to swim.
"All the children, they just love her. For Christmas, birthdays, she always remembers. Always," Mieczkowski says.