A former youth gymnastics coach in New Jersey has been indicted for allegedly committing sexual offenses against three of his student-athletes when they were teenagers, officials announced Monday.
Sasha C. Raught, 56, of Manchester Township, is charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault and three counts of second-degree sexual assault, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said in a news release.
Investigators believe the first two alleged instances of abuse took place in the early- to mid-1990s, when Raught worked at Shrewsbury Gymnastics.
The third instance is believed to have taken place in 2008, officials said. At the time Raught was employed at Jonas Gymnastics Academy in the neighboring township of Marlboro, some 45 miles south of Lower Manhattan.
Raught was arrested at his Ocean County home in May 2023 following an investigation led by the MCPO Special Victims Bureau
He was taken into custody without incident by detectives of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Manchester and Shrewsbury police departments.
Raught, who was affiliated with USA Gymnastics, was suspended and received a no-contract directive in September 2022, according to the U.S. Center for SafeSport.
He was deemed ineligible to coach gymnastics on July 3, 2023 for “criminal disposition, sexual misconduct.”
Anyone with information about Raught’s alleged misconduct is urged to contact MCPO Detective Joseph Pahopin at 1-800-533-7443.
