KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Friday is day four in the trial of a former Kent County gymnastics coach accused of sexually assaulting at least a dozen young children between 1990 and 2012.
Shannon Guay was arrested in Florida in May of 2023 following allegations stemming from a business in Plainfield Township claiming that minors had been assaulted at that location or by a previous employee.
He was extradited from Florida to Michigan and was booked into the Kent County Jail.
What began as allegations of five minors being sexually assaulted, ballooned to allegations of over a dozen children having been assaulted by Guay.
He now faces over 20 charges of criminal sexual conduct.
During the trial Friday, the prosecution called two witnesses to the stand who had contact with Guay when they were teenagers.
The first witness said she had met Guay when she was 13, and that Guay used the alias of Jake when they met.
The witness alleged that Guay had befriended her at a gym's rock climbing wall when she was just learning to climb. She testified that Guay mentored her in rock climbing and became close with her over a short period of time.
The witness alleged that Guay was grooming her during their time together by gaining her trust. She also admitted to having a "school girl crush" on Guay at the time.
She testified that while she believed that Guay was grooming her, she was not sexually assaulted by Guay. She did allege that she had been touched by him on the thigh and butt while rock climbing.
A second witness also testified who did allege sexual assault. The second witness was friends with the first and met Guay (Jake) at the same rock climbing facility.
This second witness alleged that she had an inappropriate relationship with him when she was between the ages of 14 and 16.
She alleged that Guay had groomed her from being friends, to holding hands, to asking her to be his girlfriend.
She also alleged that Guay would show her "fine art books" with pictures of partially clothed children at bookstores in an attempt to normalize the idea of child nudity. She also testified that he would tell her that they couldn't have sex because that was bad, but other things like touching were fine.
The second witness also alleged that Guay had assaulted her on several occasions in public places as well as requesting that she touch him.
After the prosecution and defense finished their examinations of the two witnesses, the trial was dismissed for lunch.
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