A former soccer coach at Wellington High School, 40-year-old Richard Alexander, also known as Richard Anthony Woolcock, has been arrested on charges of sexual abuse involving a former teenage player. According to WPBF, the arrest affidavit states the victim, whose coaching and private instruction under Alexander began when he was only 14, was subjected to inappropriate touching and sexual acts during rides home from practice.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has also charged Alexander with sexual battery of a victim aged 12 to 17 by an authority figure. A victim, prompted by memories resurfaced by a Netflix show titled "Baby Reindeer," recently came forward to report the abuse that took place between the ages of 14 and 18. "I just told my family and my girlfriend four days ago, the first time I ever told anyone in my life. Because of a Netflix show that I was watching called Baby Reindeer. He got raped. And it just really triggered me," the victim told the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in a statement obtained by CBS12 News.
Additional reports of abuse include inappropriate touching during private soccer lessons and at Alexander's apartment. Due to the sensitivity of the investigation, the victim's identity has been redacted. Despite the years that have intervened, the details were disturbingly fresh, as the victim recounted multiple incidents. "He used to hang out with us (the soccer boys) as our friend... it seemed like, uh, like our friend, you know, like he was our, our cool older friend," the victim recounted to authorities, according to CBS12 News.
In the recorded interviews with law enforcement, the victim also recalled unwanted communications from Alexander following the alleged assaults. "I would have these hidden DM’s from Richard...something like, can we talk? It was always, can we talk? But what are you doing? Um, can, can we talk? I just didn't even wanna look at it. I would just delete it. Snapchat, same thing. I had to delete him on Snapchat, and block him, until I blocked him on my phone," the victim told the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, as mentioned in the CBS12 News report.
In response to these allegations and subsequent investigation, the Palm Beach County School District confirmed that Alexander has not been employed with them since May 2024.
