Laurel Ice Skating Coach To Be Extradited To NY To Fight Charges Of Inappropriate Conduct
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ)-- A figure skating coach who once competed at the Olympics is now behind bars, accused of having an inappropriate relationship with one of his students.
Rochelle Ritchie reports, the coach is sitting in a Howard County jail awaiting extradition back to New York where he is charged.
In 10 pages from the circuit court for Prince George's County, WJZ learns that for an entire month, Genrikh Sretenski allegedly fondled and sent inappropriate text messages to an underage girl.
Fifty-year-old Sretenski is spending less time on the ice and more time behind bars after being accused of fondling and harassing one of his underage ice skating students of the Mid-Atlantic Ice Dance College where he is an instructor.
"We're doing everything we can to learn the specifics of these charges that originated out of New York that resulted in my client's arrest Monday morning and him being taken in front of his young child," said Rene Adler, Sretenski's attorney.
According to circuit court documents, an underage girl says the Russian figure skater on several occasions sent her inappropriate texts and even kissed her despite her repeated demands for him to stop.
The inappropriate contact allegedly started last year while driving the girl home. The victim says Srenteski asked how old she was and then said: "Never mind, I'm not going to say anything. I'll save that for when you're 18 or 21, but I will say this: I like you, more than like you."
The next day, court documents say, he then texted the juvenile girl saying: "I go crazy when I look at you."
It wasn't until the two were at a hotel in New York for a competition that the advances allegedly turned physical.
The underage figure skater says she was led by Sretenski to his hotel room where he began kissing her and sat her on his lap where she claims he fondled her. She said "No" to him and fled the room.
Documents show Srentenski sent more than 500 text messages, saying "I love you" and "I miss you."
Srentenski was picked up by the Howard County Sheriff's Office from his home in Clarksville on Tuesday as a fugitive of justice stemming from the incident at the hotel.
Srentiski's request for bail was denied on Thursday in Howard County.
His attorney says her client is oblivious to the charges he is facing.
"We have no information underlying the facts of the charges at this time," Adler said.
Srentenski was hired as an instructor by The Gardens Ice House in Laurel.
The court documents do not reveal the alleged victim's age. Another hearing on this case is set for Monday.
