Former Marlins of Raleigh coach Nick Walkotten has been arrested and accused of having inappropriate contact with a child under the age of 15.
The 32-year-old Walkotten was arrested this week and charged with five sex offenses. The local ABC affiliate reports that the incidents allegedly took place between June 1 and August 1. The News & Observer reports that Wakotten is charged with five sex crimes: one felony count of indecent liberties with a child and four counts of statutory sex offense with a child under 15.
Walkotten had previously been a coach with the Marlins of Raleigh since August of 2015. He was a collegiate swimmer at Indiana and South Carolina, and had also coached for UNC – Wilmington and YMCA of the Triangle. We reached out to Marlins of Raleigh head coach Paul Silver, and while he hasn’t yet provided us official comment, he did tell 11ABC that Walkotten was terminated two weeks ago when the club was made aware of the allegations. Silver told 11ABC that he contacted police immediately after hearing about the incident.
Update: Silver passed along the following statement:
“I received info 2 weeks ago that lead me to immediately file a report with safe sport on Nick. The family contacted the police and filed a report that night also. After speaking to the police that night, I sent Nick an email the next morning (Aug. 2) telling him he was terminated immediately and that safe sport and police reports had been filed. That day his membership with USA Swimming was temporarily suspended.
“We fired Nick 2 weeks prior to the arrest and filed the reports. Immediate action was warranted.
“This is shocking and saddening news and our main concern is the safety of the young people in our program. In addition the privacy of the minor child is a top priority so I cannot speak about who, when, what or where.”
WRAL.com reports that Walkotten was being held on $2 million bond and was schedule for a court appearance today.
I just read through the comments, and all of a sudden it became about recruiting? Two rival teams, and then a bunch of innuendos, allegations and some weird stuff thrown in..gotta love the internet, a massive global soapbox, where without facts, or proof, people can be judged and hung by the court of whatever and whoever..as far as the original post, that person will be tried, and if found guilty will be punished..
I’m not sure if most on this list who are complaining about ‘you knew’, but according to Us swimming, it’s a felony if adult USA swimming members who knew of abuse and didn’t report it. That sniffs like a bunch of the posters. Better hope y’all aren’t USA swimming members (eg all officials are).
Ill dig up the rules if y’all need it. I quit being a member as the wording was horrendous, and the liability huge. It was a micro protest on my part as I feel USA swimming is headed towards a self renewing NGO, like FIFA.
Separating some intra club fighting from the real issue here , there are some standouts .
One , an arrest is just that , the Prosecution must present a case to the judge & jury . Very rarely do they win all charges so they max it out to get a conviction somewhere. The statutory one will likely holdup because age is definite.
Two, a $2 million bail is outrageous . Tho it maybe misguided , it looks to be consensual if I read it right that another parent reported it . Girls do get up to stuff & are not the virtuous princesses we would like to believe. As an aside but the very base of US was… Read more »
This comment is disgusting
I agree 10 is deplorable but 7 is disgusting .
NC allows 14 year Olds to be married if they have had the baby or are pregnant . Tho Child Marriage is defined as under 18 , NC is only behind WV in official child marriages .at 5.4 per 1000. So obviously kids are not taking note of laws & stuff. If only they would listen to you Carol.
I truly hope that you are not a swim coach or around children.
If you consider the suggestion that a 14 year old is to blame for having a pedophile prey on her interesting or funny…
If that’s his intention to make fun of the outdated laws. It’s a possibility that it was. It was not worded in a joking manner.
I knew NC age of consent law was 10 because I sat in a NC library & read the struggle to overturn them . I had an interest in NC history because & I know that 95% of the time they have been pretty bad ass .Some of the things they got up to are epic. However I was checking my recollections I saw that NC was 1 of 35 states .I bet few of you knew about that .
Reading more I see that 12 was the age for legal marriage in NY until quite recently albeit by a Judge. I happen to be interested in how societies order these things . it is a subject going to… Read more »
No. He’s a sickie.
She , thank you . Yes yes I’ve been told I am racist too.
Reading all these comments here and in other past incidents, I have a very serious question. >> Do you report to safesport if you heard a rumor, but have no direct knowledge of an offense? I mean, kids talk and make things up. Shoot, adults ta;l and make things up. Remember the telephone game you played in grade school? The original message can change from “I heard coach thinks she’s a good swimmer”, to “coach likes her”, to “Coach had an inappropriate relationship with her”. [You understand what I’m trying to say here]. So when do you report if you do not have first hand proof and you just heard something? Because if you are wrong, an innocent coach’s reputation… Read more »
There is evidence in messages sent between the girl and the coach. There is also a photo of Walkotten and the girl kissing in his car.
I would imagine USA Swimming will investigate this further to see if Coach Silver did his due diligence. If he knowingly hired a coach that had a questionable background that could be trouble. He is the Head Coach and is ultimately responsible.
A huge contributing factor to these incidents is the “boys club” that the coaching world is. When these offenders are allowed to resign like Walkotten was it opens the door for them to be hired again. There is zero chance that what Walkotten did at his previous position was not known, but the boys club came through for him and children were hurt again. Everyone wants to pretend that the offenders are isolated, but the fact of the matter is they have been enabled and protected throughout the process.
Hmmm I hope you’re wrong on this, but it does sound suspicious. Also, does anyone else find it really weird that Walkotten has an Olympic rings tat but never went to the Olympics?
He had the tattoo because he was at Olympic trials in 2008 and had a very good shot at making the team in the 200 fly along with Phelps. But then he got the flu the week of trials and couldn’t swim.
How are so sure that what Walkotten did at his previous position was not known?
So when is USA Swimming going to reform the way they are managing Safe Sport? Let’s face it we are educating the wrong group. If these offenders are going to do this – a 2-hour session on what is ok and what is not does not seem to be changing their minds. I am not saying that coaches should not have to go through training but we also need to educate swimmers on what is not okay and resources for them to seek help. It seems most of the coaches are doing this to teen age group- yet we have yet to target them with tools to fight this or recognize it. If a swimmer is uncomfortable they need to… Read more »
Uh, the USOC has taken over the entire program. Keep up.
I still wonder if we are aiming at the wrong people. The video basically makes the norm population say gross, no way, and I would never. But does it change the mind of the perpetrator? I doubt that. But who is explaining to the 14-year-old who may be uncomfortable but also flattered at the same time when attention is ok and what is considered crossing the line? Has anyone had a frank conversation about grooming, alienation, special treatment, flirting and a whole laundry list of alarm bells that should not go unnoticed with this group of athletes? We expect coaches to report each other but really what is the resource for the ones with the most knowledge of what is… Read more »
Programs and materials aimed at young athletes are a critical part of SafeSport, and have been available for several years. If your LSC and your club aren’t using them, make noise to the appropriate people.
Thanks for using your name, I dislike people that hide behind their words. I agree with you. This issue bothers me, as a past coach, swimmer, and official. I did take the courses required by USA Swimming. I had the background check. But if I had it in my thoughts to be a child molester, that would not have stopped me. There are too many opportunities. A gap needs to be made between the coaches and parents to teach the swimmers how to handle the situation before it starts. My daughter coached with the accused, she thought he was a creep. And she stayed away from him. Why? Her parents worked with her, and taught her to avoid people like… Read more »
Dude’s wife literally just gave birth to their first child two weeks ago. Messed up situation for a lot of people.
It is sufficient to say ‘Dude’s wife just gave birth…’ ‘Literally’ is not necessary.
imma be real with you chief
nah.
While I understand that the overuse of the word, “literally,” can be annoying, it is not wrong from a grammatical standpoint as even great writers, such as Dickens, literally use the word in their writings.