Coach charged with sex assault
Suspect acquitted in 2004 in similar case
The part owner of a private cheerleading academy on Naperville's far west side faces trial on charges of sexually assaulting a then 13-year-old girl inside the school two years ago.
Bradley S. Abrahams, 28, surrendered at 2:10 p.m. Monday at the Naperville police station, police Cmdr. Dave Hoffman confirmed. He was released from the station after posting $100,000 cash as his bail, allowing him to remain free until his trial, Hoffman said.
Abrahams is charged with five felony counts of criminal sexual assault while in a "position of trust," according to complaints filed Thursday by Naperville police in DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton.
He is a cheerleading coach and part owner of the private Illinois Cheer Extreme/ICE Athletics Inc., at 123 Ambassador Drive, in an industrial park in far western Naperville.
Hoffman said the alleged victim is a girl from Naperville. She allegedly was abused in "a series of assaults" that occurred throughout March 2006 at the school, he said.
Abrahams is scheduled to be arraigned June 3 in court, Hoffman said.
He was acquitted Dec. 3, 2004, of a misdemeanor charge of battery. That followed a four-day bench trial in DuPage County Circuit Court.
Two girls ages 16 and 17 claimed they went to Abrahams' home June 15, 2003. He was accused of kissing the 17-year-old on the mouth and fondling one of her breasts beneath her clothing while they smoked cigarettes outside his apartment on the 800 block of Beaumont Drive, in the Brittany Springs area of far west-central Naperville.
Trial testimony showed Abrahams had met the younger girl via an Internet dating site.
The judge who presided over the trial said the testimony of the elder girl was highly credible, but that of the 16-year-old was not, and that police and prosecutors failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Abrahams' actions had been unwelcome.
ICE Athletics opened for business in May 2003 and bills itself as "the No. 1 cheerleading training facility in Illinois," according to the company's Web site. It offers training and classes in cheerleading, dance, tumbling, stunts and other activities in its 17,000-square-foot facility.
"Clearing the path for cheerleaders and athletes to take their personal and team goals to the next level is the ultimate goal" of the school, the Web site indicated. Graduates have gone on to attend the University of Kentucky, Hawaii Pacific University and other colleges and universities, according to the Web site.