Ex-professional skateboarder Neal Hendrix has been accused of sexually assaulting fellow skateboarder Julie Lynn Kindstrand Nelson when she was 14 years old and he was 34.
Nelson, now 25, accused 45-year-old Hendrix, who is currently an executive committee member for USA Skateboarding, of using “his position of influence to pursue his own sexual ambitions, which included luring me to have sex with him,” TMZ reported.
The alleged assaults occurred after the two met at a skate park in 2006. Nelson claims that Hendrix invited her back to his apartment for “sex lessons.”
According to Bleacher Report, Hendrix “masturbated in front of her, photographed and took videos of her while she was naked, and showed her pornography involving underage girls.”
The accusation emerged on Tuesday, weeks after Nelson contacted the police department in Costa Mesa, California.
“I wanted to make sure that everybody in the skateboarding community is aware of what’s going on,” Nelson said. “For so long, so many people turned a blind eye.”
Nelson also posted a video on YouTube speaking out about her experience:
Hendrix has been placed on administrative suspension by USA Skateboarding and Camp Woodward, an action sports company for whom he is a brand manager. He won five X Games medals during his skateboarding career, which began professionally in 1991.
Nelson, meanwhile, has been a professional since 2007. She skates under the name “Julz Lynn,” and earned a bronze medal at the 2013 X Games.
The Costa Mesa police department is investigating the case.