Monday 29 November 2021
Young swimmers pressed
Ex-national coach admits sexual assault
Stefan Lurz has been out of his job as national coach since spring – now it is becoming apparent that he will be convicted of the allegations published at the time. Lurz is said to have sexually harassed underage swimmers. The prosecutor said the 43-year-old confessed.
The public prosecutor’s office in Würzburg has applied for a penal order for sexual abuse of wards against the former national swimming coach Stefan Lurz. This was announced by the Würzburg public prosecutor. The process is currently being examined by the Würzburg district court, the message said. The accused admitted the allegations dealt with in the criminal warrant procedure. In some areas, allegations were discontinued. The investigations have now been concluded.
The allegations date from 2011 and 2012, at least one of the two victims who were underage at the time was about a competitive swimmer from the Würzburg performance center. The allegations were not disclosed for victim protection reasons. The authority in Würzburg had initiated the procedure for the sexual abuse of wards against Lurz in February after a “Spiegel” report ex officio.
In the “Spiegel” report, the trainer was accused of sexual assault against young swimmers. Lurz could not be reached for comment. the “Main Post” from Würzburg reports that Lurz admitted an assault. The investigators write in their report: “A systematic and recurring approach can be seen in the accused’s approach.” However, many of the situations described in the interrogations were “below the threshold of what is criminal and therefore unresolved,” writes the “Main-Post”.
Not for the first time allegations against Lurz
According to Chief Public Prosecutor Thorsten Seebach, the penalty order applied for is about “sexual abuse of wards in two factual majority cases”. The judge must now decide on this. According to “Main-Post” there is already a proposal for the sentence, but the judges have had further files presented. The confession could at least save Lurz a hearing – as the report shows, the proceedings should end with the penalty order.
The public prosecutor’s office had already investigated the now 43-year-old in 2010 on suspicion of rape and sexual abuse of wards. Lurz denied the allegations at the time. However, the proceedings had been discontinued against payment, said Seebach in February, when the new allegations had become public. Before that, there was a private offender-victim compensation. Another procedure against the trainer on leave due to insult and sexual coercion was discontinued in 2019 due to the statute of limitations.
Lurz worked at the federal base in Würzburg. For many years he was the national coach of open water swimmers and celebrated numerous successes in championships with them. According to the Spiegel report in February, he resigned.