Soccer coach molested 9-year-old boy, Florida suit says. Coach, teams owe $10 million
Two soccer programs failed to conduct an adequate background check on an “aggressive” coach who later was accused of molesting a 9-year-old player, according to a Florida lawsuit.
A jury has now decided the two teams and coach owe the boy $10 million after a litigation process that lasted more than five years.
McClatchy News reached out to the accused parties for comment Jan. 8 and did not immediately receive responses.
“This case isn’t just about one predator — it’s about ensuring companies take their role in protecting children seriously,” said James Simmons of Simmons Law Group, which represented the family. “The jury’s decision reflects our community’s commitment to holding both individuals and organizations accountable for their failures.”
The coach, 28-year-old Hugo Jimenez-Rumbos, was charged with six sex offenses in 2019 and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of attempted lewd or lascivious molestation, for which he was sentenced to five years in prison, according to records from the Florida Department of Corrections and Osceola County.
On July 9, 2019, Jimenez-Rumbos stopped by the home of one of his players, a 9-year-old goalie, to take him to buy knee pads before practice, deputies said in an arrest affidavit.
While they were in the car on their way to the store, Jimenez-Rumbos started touching the boy under his shirt then proceeded to touch his genitals, investigators said.
He’s accused of molesting the boy on the way to the field, where they did a private training. At the end of the practice, he moved the boy’s clothes aside to look at his genitals, deputies said.
According to investigators, Jimenez-Rumbos admitted to touching the boy on top of his clothes and wrote an apology letter.
In addition to criminal charges, the boy’s family and attorneys pursued damages against Jimenez-Rumbos and the two soccer programs, My Soccer Academy and Celta Soccer Academy. The man coached for both program’s teams, and the boy played for both, the lawsuit says.
The boy’s family accused both teams of failing to conduct a sufficient background check on Jimenez-Rumbos, which they say would have shown he didn’t have a work visa in the U.S. and was unfit to work as a children’s coach “given his social and/or criminal history.”
The lawsuit filing says parents and fans complained about Jimenez-Rumbos, saying he was “too aggressive with children at games, (and) that he verbally and physically berated them during practice and during games.” Attorneys say the teams knew or should have known Jimenez-Rumbos was driving players alone and doing one-on-one practices.
A jury decided Jan. 6 the teams owe $3.3 million each, and Jimenez-Rumbos owes $3.4 million.
Osceola County is part of the Orlando metropolitan area.
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 9:21 AM with the headline "Soccer coach molested 9-year-old boy, Florida suit says. Coach, teams owe $10 million."