'He needs to be locked away:' Grady Judd on arrest of former coach accused of sexual battery on young gymnast

LAKELAND, Fla. - A former gymnastics coach in Lakeland is under arrest after the Polk County Sheriff's Office said he admitted to detectives that he had sex twice with a girl he was coaching when she was younger than 16.

The backstory:

The investigation began as a missing person case, when detectives were trying to find the victim, who s now an adult, after she failed to participate in a court-ordered detox program. 

The victim was found by detectives on Wednesday at the Lakeland home of Alexander Katchalov, 28, her former gymnastics coach. 

The victim used to attend gymnastics classes at Elite World Gymnastics in Lakeland, where Katchalov used to work.

Katchalov is already registered as a Florida sexual offender and on felony sexual offender probation following a prior conviction for possession of photograph showing sexual performance of a child in 2017. 

The victim in the latest allegations against Katchalov is not a victim in his child pornography case, according to the sheriff's office.

Courtesy: Polk County Sheriff's Office

Detectives interviewed the victim after finding her at Katchalov’s home and mentioned having a sexual relationship with him when he was her coach. 

During the detectives’ initial interview with Katchalov, he denied having a sexual relationship with the victim but, he eventually claimed that he only had sex with her twice when she was 15.

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What they're saying:

"Given this former gymnastics coach’s deviant background, it is possible that there could be more victims out there. If he has victimized anyone else, we want them to contact our detectives in the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit. He has a horribly twisted attraction to children, and he needs to be locked away," said Sheriff Grady Judd.

Detectives also discovered that Katchalov violated his probation by using an unreported internet messaging system during correspondence with the victim, and he also possessed an unregistered online gaming account. 

All "internet-identifiers" by Katchalov must be registered with the sheriff’s office per probationary guidelines, according to the sheriff's office. 

Katchalov was arrested and charged with: 

• Lewd Battery (F2, 2-counts).
• Failure to Comply with Sex Offender Registration (F3).
• Violation of Probation.

Katchalov was incarcerated in Florida State Prison between September 30, 2021, to August 24, 2022, following his conviction for child pornography possession. 

His probation was set to expire on August 23, 2029.