Former Olympic Boxer Paul Gonzales Charged For Committing Lewd Acts On Child

Former Olympic boxing gold medalist Paul Gonzales was facing felony charges Thursday on allegations of committing lewd acts on a child.

The 53-year-old boxing champion, who worked for the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department as the head coach at an East Los Angeles boxing club, was arrested Dec. 29 following an investigation by the Sheriff’s Special Victim Bureau, according to the local publication the Orange County Register.

Police believed there may be additional victims who were yet to come forward. “Based on the allegations in this case, and the fact suspect Gonzales has trained and mentored kids at the boxing gym for the past ten years, detectives believe there may have been other children in the past that were sexually assaulted by suspect Gonzales,” a statement by the Sheriff’s Department.

Gonzales represented the U.S. in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, winning a gold medal as a light flyweight in boxing. He defeated Korea’s Kwang Sun Kim (ranked No. 2 in the world) in the first round and in the semi-finals, he defeated Jose Marcelino Bolivar of Venezuela in a close call. He won the gold medal when Italian fighter Salvatore Todisco did not fight him due to a broken thumb.

“I won. I won, without a doubt,” recalled Gonzales in a 2016 article by the Los Angeles Daily News. “Like I told Howard Cosell, I was there to give everyone a boxing lesson. I was there to win.”

Gonzales, at the age of 20, became the first Latino man from the U.S. to win a gold medal in the Olympic games, his claim to fame especially among Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles. He was part of a gang and survived stabbings and shootings at the age of 12. A Los Angeles Police Department officer broke up one of the street fights that Gonzalez was involved in and told him to take up boxing, according to the Daily News.

“It was an exploration for me, coming from the projects and going to stardom. It was awesome,” said Gonzales.

He had been working at the Eddie Heredia Boxing Club, in East Los Angeles, California for the past 10 years. Gonzalez talked about the kids in the gym to Daily News in 2016 and said: “Whether they are from East L.A. or other communities, I’m here to greet them and let them know they can move ahead. Life is about moving and exploring new things.”

The county Department of Parks and Recreation issued a statement Thursday to ABC affiliate KABC-TV saying it took the allegations levelled against him seriously and was cooperating with the investigation: "The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation takes these allegations very seriously, both as administrators and as parents. There is zero tolerance for employee misconduct within our Department. We are fully cooperating with the investigation being conducted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. We place a very high value on the safety of the public, especially children, who participate in our programs and who visit our park facilities. The Department will take appropriate and swift action to ensure the continued protection of all of our guests."

Gonzalez was being held in lieu of $545,000 bail and was facing eight felony counts, four of which were lewd acts upon a child and was due in court in downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 18.