LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — A figure skating coach who competed at the Olympics for the Soviet Union has pleaded guilty to charges he improperly touched a teenage student during a competition in Lake Placid.
Genrich Sretenski pleaded guilty to a charge of endangering the welfare of a child. He was sentenced Friday to a year in jail but the sentence was conditionally discharged.
The 50-year-old Sretenski, who lives and coaches in Maryland, was accused of fondling the 16-year-old girl in his hotel room at the competition in July 2011.
He was originally charged with felony counts of sexual abuse and three misdemeanors.
Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague says the victim agreed to the sentence to avoid the trauma of a trial. She still has a pending civil lawsuit against Sretenski.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
