Justice Department seeks to strip citizenship of Chicago-area gymnastic coach charged with sex abuse

Justice Department looks to strip U.S. citizenship of Chicago-area gymnastics coach charged with sex abuse of children as young as 12

  • U.S. Department of Justice is suing a former Channahon gymnastics coach
  • José Vilchis is accused of years of abuse of his students may lose his citizenship
  • Prosecutors claim Vilchis, 68, would not have been granted a green card or naturalization had he not concealed the crimes while applying to live in the U.S.
  • Some of the alleged abuse was against children as young as 12 – and stretch back to 1985 onwards 

José Vilchis, 68, is accused of years of abuse of his students may lose his citizenship

A former Olympian, originally from Mexico, could have his American citizenship revoked after being charged with sexually abusing three young female gymnasts. 

The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against 68-year-old José Vilchis.

The suit states that Vilchis lied on his naturalization application by concealing the fact he sexually abused girls he coached in the 1980s and 1990s.    

The criminal complaint claims Vilchis began abusing his gymnastics students, some who were as young as 12 from around 1985 onwards. 

Vilchis who already holds Mexican and Russian citizenship, didn’t become a permanent resident of the United States for another six years in 1991 before obtaining his citizenship in 1997.

But prosecutors claim that Vilchis would not even have been given a green card, let alone allowed to become a naturalized citizen had his crimes been known about at the time of his applying to live in the U.S.

Vilchis answered ‘no’ to questions on his citizenship application asking if he had ever ‘knowingly committed any crime for which you have not been arrested’ and if he had ever committed or been convicted ‘of a crime involving moral turpitude?’ 

Prosecutors claim Vilchis would not have been granted a green card or naturalization had he not concealed the crimes while applying to live in the U.S.

“Vilchis fraudulently gained U.S citizenship by lying about the horrific, ongoing crimes he was committing against innocent children,” acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Matthew Albence said in a news release

Prosecutors claim Vilchis, seen here in both pictures several years apart, would not have been granted a green card or naturalization had he not concealed the crimes while applying to live in the U.S.

Vilchis, who competed as a gymnast for Mexico during the 1968 Summer Olympics, ended up concealing the crimes on his application according to the Chicago Sun Times.  

Prosecutors say Vilchis coached gymnastics at the Beverly Gymnastics Center in Chicago, the American Academy of Gymnastics in Wheeling and other gyms in the Chicago area.

The complaint does not allege that Vilchis was ever arrested or convicted in relation to the alleged abuse in the 1980s and 1990s reports the Chicago Tribune.

‘Vilchis fraudulently gained U.S citizenship by lying about the horrific, ongoing crimes he was committing against innocent children,’ acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Matthew Albence said in a news release. 

In 2018, Vilchis was charged in Will County with 18 counts of sexually assaulting a minor while coaching at the I&M Gymnastics in Channahon, southwest of Chicago, between 2012 and 2013. 

According to prosecutors, the girl was between the ages of 13 and 17 when the abuse occurred. 

He is currently in Will County Jail on $3 million bail and will go on trial on December 16. 

In 2018, Vilchis was charged in Will County with 18 counts of sexually assaulting a minor while coaching at the I&M Gymnastics in Channahon, pictured, between 2012 and 2013.

In 2018, Vilchis was charged in Will County with 18 counts of sexually assaulting a minor while coaching at the I&M Gymnastics in Channahon, pictured, between 2012 and 2013.



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