Quick answer: Michael Avila, a 20-year-old Los Angeles-area high school soccer coach from Norwalk, was arrested on July 28, 2026, by the Westminster Police Department on suspicion of:
Police believe there may be additional victims and are urging anyone with information to come forward. Separate from the criminal case, survivors and their families have the right to file a private civil lawsuit for money damages against the accused and against any school, district, club, or organization whose negligence allowed the abuse to happen. Dordulian Law Group’s Los Angeles sexual abuse lawyers are offering free and confidential consultations at (866) GO-SEE-SAM.
On Tuesday, July 28, 2026, the Westminster Police Department announced the arrest of Michael Avila, 20, of Norwalk, California. Avila works as a soccer coach at a high school in the Los Angeles area.
According to investigators, the department began looking into a reported sexual assault in mid-July involving a minor. The reported incident took place near the 13500 block of Edwards Street in Westminster, Orange County. Westminster police have said the alleged conduct occurred earlier in the year. After an investigation, detectives identified Avila as the suspect, located him in Norwalk, and took him into custody. He was booked into Orange County Jail.
Police also confirmed that they contacted the school district that employs Avila and that the district is working in collaboration with the Westminster Police Department.
Avila was booked on suspicion of the following offenses:
These are among the most serious felony allegations in the California Penal Code. It is important to understand that an arrest is not a conviction, and Avila is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Westminster investigators have publicly asked anyone who may have been victimized by Avila, or anyone with information about the case, to contact them. The department emphasized that people should reach out even if they are not certain their information matters.
When a coach is accused of abusing a minor, law enforcement almost always looks for a pattern. Coaches have repeated, often unsupervised access to young athletes through practices, travel, private training sessions, team messaging apps, and social media. That access is exactly what makes youth sports one of the highest-risk environments for grooming and abuse.
If your child was coached by, trained with, messaged by, or otherwise had contact with this coach and you are concerned, you have two separate paths available to you. One is the criminal path through law enforcement. The other is the civil path, where a private sexual abuse lawyer represents you and your family directly.
Families are often surprised to learn that the criminal prosecution is not their case. In a criminal matter, the prosecutor represents the State of California. The survivor is a witness. The survivor does not control the charges, the plea negotiations, or the outcome, and a criminal conviction does not put a single dollar in a survivor’s hands for therapy, medical care, or lost future earning capacity.
A civil lawsuit is different in every meaningful way:
An individual coach rarely has the resources to compensate a survivor for a lifetime of harm. Institutions usually do. Depending on what the evidence shows, potentially liable parties in a case like this can include:
California schools owe students a special duty of care. Districts can be held liable for negligent hiring, negligent supervision, negligent retention, and failure to train staff or enforce mandated reporting duties. If administrators received complaints, noticed boundary violations, or ignored warning signs and did nothing, that failure can support a school sexual abuse claim. This applies to public districts, charter schools, and private schools alike.
Many high school coaches also coach club soccer, travel teams, or private training programs. Each of those organizations had its own duty to screen, supervise, and monitor. Each may carry its own insurance policy.
Where abuse occurs off campus, liability does not disappear. If a coaching relationship formed through a school or club and that relationship was the pathway to the abuse, the institution that created and failed to supervise that relationship can still be accountable. Off-campus conduct does not automatically release a school from responsibility.
The accused individual remains personally liable for intentional acts of sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress.
Identifying every responsible party quickly matters because personnel files, complaint records, background check documentation, text messages, and team communications can be lost over time. An experienced child sexual abuse attorney can move immediately to preserve that evidence.
California has some of the most survivor-friendly civil laws in the country. Three points matter most for families in this situation:
Under Assembly Bill 452, signed into law in 2023, there is no statute of limitations for civil claims arising from childhood sexual assault that occurred on or after January 1, 2024. Because the conduct alleged in this case is recent, survivors would not face the old age-based filing deadlines. Even so, waiting is never in a survivor’s interest. Evidence degrades, witnesses move, and institutional records are destroyed on retention schedules.
California law allows a survivor to recover up to treble damages, meaning up to three times the amount of the award, when a defendant engaged in a cover-up of childhood sexual assault. That provision exists precisely because institutions have historically protected their reputations instead of children.
A note on the difference between laws that are frequently confused: AB 452 governs childhood sexual abuse claims arising on or after January 1, 2024. Separate statutes, including the Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act and the Sexual Assault Statute of Limitations Extension Act, apply to adult survivors and follow different rules. If you are unsure which applies to your situation, a free consultation will answer that question in minutes.
A civil claim is not about a number on a check. It is about making sure a young person has what they need for the rest of their life. Recoverable damages commonly include:
Grooming is deliberate and gradual, and it is designed to look like mentorship. Parents who look back after an arrest often recognize behaviors they had no reason to question at the time. Signs worth paying attention to include:
If any of this feels familiar, it does not mean something happened. It means it is worth having a confidential conversation with a professional who handles these cases every day.
Make sure your child is safe and supported. Believe them. Do not interrogate them or press for details. Let them tell you what they are ready to tell you.
Contact law enforcement. Detective Bruzzi at the Westminster Police Department can be reached at 714-548-3781, or call the Watch Commander at 714-548-3767. Anonymous tips can be submitted to OC Crime Stoppers at 1-855-847-6227.
Preserve everything. Save text messages, direct messages, emails, social media content, team rosters, schedules, screenshots, and photos. Do not delete anything, and do not confront the accused.
Write down what you know. Record dates, names, times, who was present, and who at the school or club you spoke to. Memory fades, and details matter.
Get your child connected to a qualified therapist. Early trauma-informed care changes long-term outcomes, and the cost of that care is recoverable in a civil claim.
Talk to a civil sexual abuse attorney before you speak to the school or an insurance representative. Institutions have lawyers and risk managers protecting them from day one. You deserve the same.
No. A civil claim can be filed while a criminal case is pending, and in many situations that is the better strategy because it protects evidence and preserves the ability to hold institutions accountable.
California courts routinely permit survivors of sexual abuse, especially minors, to proceed anonymously as a Doe plaintiff. In addition, the overwhelming majority of civil sexual abuse cases resolve through negotiated settlement rather than a public trial.
Location is not the deciding factor. What matters is whether an institution created the access, had a duty to supervise, and failed to act on warning signs. Many successful school abuse cases involve conduct that occurred entirely off campus.
Dordulian Law Group handles these cases on a contingency fee basis. There are no upfront costs and no fee unless a recovery is obtained. Consultations are free and confidential. Call (866) GO-SEE-SAM.
Better to be safe than sorry. A confidential conversation costs nothing and obligates you to nothing. Police have specifically asked people to come forward even when they are uncertain, and the same applies on the civil side.
Possibly. Different California statutes apply depending on when the abuse occurred and how old the survivor was at the time. This is exactly the kind of question a free case evaluation resolves quickly.
Sam Dordulian is a former sex crimes prosecutor and Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County. He spent years putting child predators behind bars before dedicating his practice to representing survivors. That background is not a marketing line. It means the attorney reviewing your case has stood in a courtroom, examined the evidence in these exact kinds of prosecutions, and knows how defense attorneys and institutional insurers approach them.
His record includes:
Dordulian Law Group’s Sexual Abuse Justice Experts (SAJE) Team was built specifically for survivors. Every client is supported by a dedicated team that includes a lead attorney, an investigator, and a victim advocate, along with access to a licensed clinical therapist who can help connect survivors and families with mental health resources.
Survivors do not get handed off to a case manager and forgotten. They get a team. Learn more about
DLG’s approach to sexual abuse cases,
school sexual abuse, and
child sexual abuse claims, or visit
dlawgroup.com.
If your child was coached by, trained with, or had contact with this coach, or if you have concerns about any coach, teacher, or school employee, you do not have to sort through it alone. The consultation is free, completely confidential, and carries no obligation. You pay nothing unless we win.
Call Dordulian Law Group now at (866) GO-SEE-SAM or visit dlawgroup.com to request a free, confidential case review.
Serving survivors throughout Los Angeles County, Orange County, and all of California.
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