Skating Coach Pleads Guilty To Having Sex With Underage Student
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A former figure skating coach has pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct for having sex with a student of his when she was between 14 and 16 years old.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office said 48-year-old Thomas Incantalupo, of St. Louis Park, pleaded guilty in court Tuesday morning.
The charges state Incantalupo repeatedly sexually assaulted one of his students, who he had started coaching when she was about 9 years old. The girl traveled with Incantalupo across the country for training and competition, often alone.
The complaint states the sexual abuse began in 2015, when the girl was 14 years old and they traveled to Connecticut for training. They were staying at the home of another figure skating coach when Incantalupo slipped into her room one night and assaulted her.
According to the complaint, the abuse continued when Incantalupo took the girl to Argentina for coaching seminars he taught where she demonstrated movements. The complaint says he took the girl from the practice rink in Eden Prairie to a hotel and sexually abused her there and brought her back to the rink in time for her parents to pick her up.
He did the same thing the next three months before the girl told a friend what was happening. Her parents became aware, and went to police. At police requests, the girl wore a wire and when she met Incantalupo at the rink, she told him she no longer wanted sexual contact from him. He acknowledged the hotel visits and the sexual contact in the recording and was arrested by Eden Prairie police.
On Tuesday, Incantalupo admitted to taking his victim to a hotel more than once to have sex with her. He agreed to plead guilty to one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
The county attorney's office said that he also admitted to aggravating factors which will allow prosecutors to seek the statutory maximum sentence of 30 years, and that he would serve no less than 12 years in prison.
His sentencing is set for Sept. 27 at 9 a.m.