A former UCSB gymnastics coach has been arrested on child pornography charges in Oregon more than a decade after a civil suit was filed against him for sexually assaulting two underage girls during his time coaching UCSB’s club gymnastics team.

Jeffrey Bettman, who also works as a sports photographer, was arrested earlier this month after investigators allegedly found that he had been videotaping young girls undressing and had captured footage of at least 60 victims, some as young as seven. In 2000, the parents of two young gymnasts — age 10 and 14 — filed a civil suit against both Bettman and UCSB, claiming that the coach engaged in inappropriate physical contact with the girls and that university officials were aware of the behavior.

Though a report filed with the UC Police Department indicates that UCSB supervisors met with the parents in 1994 to discuss Bettman’s inappropriate physical actions, the case was dropped due to lack of evidence. As of press time, efforts to contact the UC Police Department were unsuccessful.

A version of this article appeared on page 3 of November 14th, 2012’s print edition of the Nexus.

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