Jury finds Plantation soccer coach guilty of sexual battery of former minor player

A South Florida soccer coach credited with leading teams to multiple state championships during his tenure has been convicted of sexual battery of a minor girl he coached six years after his arrest.

A Broward County jury found Juan “Johnny” Ramos, 49, guilty of one count of sexual battery of a victim older than 12 but younger than 18 by a person of familial or custodial authority on Thursday, court records say.

Ramos, who was previously the director of coaching and player development at the Plantation Eagles Soccer Club and a staff member at Florida Youth Soccer and Kendall Coalition Soccer Club, was arrested in August 2016 on four counts of familial or custodial sexual battery.

The victim, identified in court records only by her initials, came forward with her allegations of abuse in August 2016, when she was age 26. The South Florida Sun Sentinel previously reported that she was 10 when she met Ramos, and he started to coach her during private lessons while she played for the Plantation Eagles Soccer Club.

The coaching lessons ultimately escalated into sexual intercourse in 2004 when the girl was 14 and Ramos was 30 years old, police said in 2016. For years, the weekly time she spent with Ramos would include being abused, the Sun Sentinel previously reported.

A jury found Ramos guilty of one of the four sexual battery charges, finding that at least once or more between Jan. 1, 2004, and March 19, 2008, Ramos sexually battered the victim. His sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.Aug. 31, court records say.

Information from the Sun Sentinel archives was used in this report.

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