A Springville businessman and baseball coach has been charged with sexually abusing a teenage boy who worked for him and played on his team.
Michael Aram Jenkins, 46, is accused of having the teen give him massages while he was naked, and later massaging the teen. Jenkins was charged last month with five counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, and one count of sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor.
Jenkins is the coach of a traveling competition baseball team, his attorney, Cara Tangaro, said Tuesday. Tangaro said Jenkins denies the allegations and is prepared to maintain his innocence in court.
Investigators say Jenkins began asking the 16-year-old boy to give him neck and shoulder rubs at work in the latter part of 2015. Over time, Jenkins began undressing for the massages, draping himself in a thin blanket, according to the filed affidavit. Sometimes, he pulled down or removed the blanket to have the teen massage him.
Jenkins later began offering massages to the teen, the boy told police after reporting the alleged abuse in February. Jenkins is accused of touching the teen’s genitals and buttocks, court documents state.
The teen stated that the massages made him feel uncomfortable and was afraid to tell Jenkins in fear of losing his job.
Jenkins identifies himself online as the CEO of Cleanbrain Software, a software service for janitorial businesses. The teenage boy did data entry for his company.
A week before the teen approached police, another teen that played on the team and worked for Jenkins was at his office when he walked in and found Jenkins lying naked face down on the floor while the 16-year-old gave him a massage.
When police had setup the 16-year-old text Jenkins to establish contact with him, Jenkins responded to a message saying the boy had talked to his parents about the nude massages, saying, “As you know, nothing inappropriate happened between us. Your contract services were terminated due to nonperformance. I wish you the best in all (your) endeavors.” His way of thinking about “nonperformance” meaning the boy did not do anything farther than rubbing according to his sick mind.
Jenkins is scheduled to appear in court June 2.