PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A victim has come forward to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office regarding alleged sexual abuse from a former Wellington High School soccer coach.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said on Feb. 12 the victim came to their department to provide additional details concerning past "inappropriate" incidents with Richard Anthony Woolcock when he was a child.
WATCH: Nathan Lachine gives WPTV his insight into sexual abuse in men
Deputies said Woolcock is believed to have changed his last name to Alexander.
The victim told investigators that Alexander provided him with private soccer lessons and was also a soccer coach during high school, according to an arrest report. The victim told deputies that his parents were aware that Alexander would pick him up and drive him to practices and that parents of other soccer players trusted Alexander.
“They're usually in positions of power, they usually have direct access and unsupervised access to children,” said Nathan Lachine, a board director for Male Survivor, an international organization for male survivors of sexual abuse.
Lachine also said some survivors take years to report what happened to them.
“Some survivors take 20, 30, 40 years to come forward,” he said.
According to the arrest report, the victim told deputies he was touched in a lewd and lascivious manner by Alexander on "numerous occasions."
The report also stated that the victim told Alexander via text that "his inappropriate conduct needed to stop." The victim told investigators that incidents with Alexander went from "being weird" to making the victim scared.
There were at least two occasions, one at 16 and one at 18, where Alexander "performed oral sex on the victim," the report said. The victim told detectives he was forced and did not consent to any sexual contact with Alexander.
WATCH PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Teacher accused of molesting soccer player
Back in May 2019, WPTV reported on Alexander’s previous arrest for alleged sexual abuse when he was a teacher at Lake Worth Middle School and a soccer coach for an outside league. But records show, the charges against Alexander were dropped and the case was expunged.
Following this month's statement provided by the victim and a follow-up investigation that began back in May 2024 involving other victims, PBSO arrested Alexander on Wednesday for sexual battery by an authority figure on a victim between the ages of 12 and 17.
The Palm Beach County School District said they cut ties with Alexander in May, the same month the now 25-year-old victim came forward.
In a message sent to only parents of Lake Worth Middle School this week, where Alexander was last employed, the principal informed them of the arrest and said, "We encourage anyone with relevant information to contact school police."
“If the soccer coach has been around for over a decade, there's probably more victims out there,” said Lachine.
Alexander is being held at the Palm Beach County jail without bond.
