Soccer coach charged with inappropriately touching player told girl he ‘had fun’

A former University of Puget Sound soccer coach who offers private goalkeeping sessions through his summer camp is accused of inappropriately touching a teenage player.

Kelly Bendixen, 52, was charged Monday with first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor. His bail was set at $25,000, and he was ordered to have no contact with minors.

Pierce County prosecutors contend he kissed and groped a 16-year-old girl several times while driving her to and from soccer practices earlier this month.

The girl on Saturday told a priest about the incident, then told her mother what happened. Her mother called Fircrest police.

Charging documents give this account:

Bendixen has coached the girl since she was 8.

About 90 percent of their soccer sessions were private, investigators said.

Coach and player chatted about Bendixen’s marriage problems and “sexuality” prior to Aug. 6, when he picked her up from home and drove her to practice at a Tukwila soccer complex.

“At some point, the defendant placed his hand on (her) leg and stroked it,” records show.

The girl said it was OK, so he allegedly inched his hand further up her thigh as he drove.

After three hours of practice, two of which Bendixen was alone with the girl, they left the soccer field and grabbed dinner in Auburn.

“The defendant rubbed (her) leg and inner thigh both before and after they pulled into the drive-in,” records show.

As they drove back to Fircrest, Bendixen allegedly touched the teen under her shorts and over her shirt.

He pulled the car over at one point so he could touch her and kiss her, charging papers show.

Two days later, the girl had a private goalie session with Bendixen and he told her “he had fun” before and “instructed her not to tell anyone or he would go to jail,” records show.

At another practice Saturday, he allegedly asked the girl if he could touch her again but she declined.

That’s when she told a priest and her mom what happened.

Police went to Bendixen’s house Saturday night but he wasn’t home. His wife called to tell him officers were waiting to speak with him.

Over the next 20 minutes, Bendixen allegedly called the teen twice and sent her a text asking, “Are we ok??”

He denied any wrongdoing in an interview with police.

Bendixen was an assistant coach at the University of Puget Sound for 26 years, coaching both the men’s and women’s teams. He stopped coaching there in November, a university spokesman said.

He also runs Bendixen Goalkeeping Academy, offering private sessions and summer camps for goalies since 2009.

This story was originally published August 13, 2018 at 2:11 PM.