TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa Police have arrested a local gymnastics coach accused of sexually abusing girls he’s coached.
The TPD Child Crisis Unit is investigating.
A newly released affidavit says the crimes began as early as the 1990s and lasted until January of this year.
It says Jean-Luc Cairon previously coached at Kraft Academy of Gymnastics in Tulsa and South County Gymnastics (SOCO) in Jenks where the athletes attended, and that the children ranged in age of 10 to 14 years of age at the time of the sexual abuse.
One of the alleged victims is now 13. She claimed Cairon sexually abused her for three years, beginning in 2018 when she was 10.
Another girl, who the affidavit says was an athlete at SOCO, said Cairon touched her inappropriately during both practice and outside of practice beginning in January 2020 and lasting about a year. She was 14 at the time.
A third girl who is now 28 said her abuse started when she was 13 and happened between 2005 and 2006. She said she was both touched inappropriately and raped by Cairon.
The affidavit says the investigation began in February 2021 when one of the girls told her father about the abuse. The others came forward shortly after.
The affidavit details when owners at SOCO became aware of the investigation, they called in a referral to U.S. SafeSport. The Defendant was placed on SafeSport’s Centralized Disciplinary Database (CDC) for allegations of misconduct, resulting in the Defendant’s temporary suspension.
It goes on to say, after that, three more of Cairon’s former athletes from the 1990s and early 2000s came forward alleging they, too, were abused by Cairon when he was their coach at Krafft Academy.
The Arizona State University website shows the defendant was also an assistant gymnastics coach there from 2008-2010.
The website goes on to describe him as “one of the country’s most prestigious club coaches.”
It also says he was a member of the French Olympic team for the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympic Games and holds three national titles (1983, 1984, 1987).
For now, Cairon has been charged with three counts of lewd molestation for the more recent allegations. His bond is $150,000.
USAGYM.org, the website for USA Gymnastics, lists Cairon as being suspended from all contact. Krafft Academy is now closed.