Prince George’s Co. swim instructor charged with sexually assaulting children during lessons
WTOP (archive.ph)
By Valerie Bonk
2025-07-30 20:12:00GMT
Editor’s note: This story contains sexually graphic details involving children that readers may find disturbing.
A man in Prince George’s County, Maryland, has been charged with sexually assaulting a boy and a girl he was teaching to swim.
A relative of two children who were taking swim lessons at BeechTree Community Center in Upper Marlboro contacted police on July 22, saying that a man they hired to teach the children how to swim had sexually assaulted them, according to a Prince George’s County police news release.
The children are a 7-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl. The relative said it happened during the private lessons.
Police arrested and charged Tyler Wang’Ombe-Gichuru, 25, with two counts of second-degree rape, assault and multiple additional sexual offenses.
The Silver Spring man is being held without bond.
According to charging documents, after their swim lesson, the children told their father in the car that their swim teacher had touched them inappropriately. At the time, the swim instructor was following the family home because he had offered to babysit them after their swim lesson.
The 7-year-old boy told his father, according to charging documents, that Wang’Ombe-Gichuru asked him to go to the bathroom with him. While in the bathroom, Wang’Ombe-Gichuru performed oral sex on the boy, according to the documents.
The 5-year-old girl told her father that while in the pool, Wang’Ombe-Gichuru held her by her chest and lower body, moved her swimwear to the side and used his hand to repeatedly penetrate her vagina and anus, according to charging documents.
The boy told his father that Wang’Ombe-Gichuru also touched his genitals and buttocks under his clothing while he was underwater in the pool, according to the charging documents.
He told the boy “don’t tell anyone, this is a secret, don’t tell grandma or your dad or mom,” according to the documents.
When they arrived home, the children’s father tried to confront Wang’Ombe-Gichuru but he fled the scene, according to the documents.
The family of the children said they met Wang’Ombe-Gichuru at a trampoline park where he worked in Laurel and arranged for the lessons.
Police said the investigation is still active. The department is asking anyone with information to contact the Prince George’s County Police Department.
---
Silver Spring swim instructor charged with assaulting children during private lessons
FOX Baltimore (archive.ph)
By Ashley Burkett and Brad Bell
2025-07-30 19:25:47GMT
Wang’Ombe-Gichuru, 25, of Silver Spring, Maryland, was charged with sexually assaulting two children on July 22, 2025. (PGPD)
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — A Silver Spring swim instructor is charged with sexually assaulting two children during private swimming lessons, according to the Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD).
Tyler Wang’Ombe-Gichuru, 25, faces two counts of second-degree rape, along with multiple charges for sexual assaults and offenses, according to PGPD.
The two children, both under the age of 10, were assaulted by Wang’Ombe-Gichuru during private swim lessons, according to the agency's Child and Vulnerable Adult Abuse Unit (CVAA). Police said the victims' family hired the suspect to teach the children at a community center in Upper Marlboro on July 22.
The father of a 7-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy told 7News that Gichuru, whom he’d hired to teach his kids to swim, instead sexually assaulted them during and after a lesson as the dad sat nearby.
“I think he was brazen and targeted because he wasn’t afraid that a parent was also present,” said the father
7News is not sharing the man’s name to protect the identity of his children. But he chose to speak. He is angry and feels betrayed by Gichuru.
“This is not his first rodeo,” said the man, “because he was trusting..he had the modus operandi. He knew how to get you to trust him.”
Police said Wang’Ombe-Gichuru is not an employee of the community center; however, he works at a trampoline park in Laurel, where he met the victims' family. Police said how they met worried them, because that job and another job he had as a lifeguard and swim instructor with a pool management company gave Gichuru, who has a criminal record including prison time for a gun-related crime, access to many children.
A relative of two children reached out to PGPD to report the offenses, according to police.
Lt. Michael Snyder, who commands the PGPD child abuse unit, said he wants to send a message to parents who have had contact with the suspect.
“Talk to their children to find out if anything inappropriate or anything even remotely inappropriate has happened, and please contact us, and we will have further conversations with them,” Snyder said.
Maryland law doesn’t allow criminal background checks before someone is conditionally offered a job. The lawyer for the pool management company wouldn’t tell 7News' Brad Bell whether they did a background check on Gichuru. The owner of the trampoline park said he did not do one.
Wang’Ombe-Gichuru is being held without bond, and CVAA detectives are looking to speak with anyone with information in this investigation.
The father of the alleged victims said he wants justice.
“He uses the trust from being a swim instructor to get closer to kids and the law should take him away," the man said.
WTOP (archive.ph)
By Valerie Bonk
2025-07-30 20:12:00GMT
Editor’s note: This story contains sexually graphic details involving children that readers may find disturbing.
A man in Prince George’s County, Maryland, has been charged with sexually assaulting a boy and a girl he was teaching to swim.
A relative of two children who were taking swim lessons at BeechTree Community Center in Upper Marlboro contacted police on July 22, saying that a man they hired to teach the children how to swim had sexually assaulted them, according to a Prince George’s County police news release.
The children are a 7-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl. The relative said it happened during the private lessons.
Police arrested and charged Tyler Wang’Ombe-Gichuru, 25, with two counts of second-degree rape, assault and multiple additional sexual offenses.
The Silver Spring man is being held without bond.
According to charging documents, after their swim lesson, the children told their father in the car that their swim teacher had touched them inappropriately. At the time, the swim instructor was following the family home because he had offered to babysit them after their swim lesson.
The 7-year-old boy told his father, according to charging documents, that Wang’Ombe-Gichuru asked him to go to the bathroom with him. While in the bathroom, Wang’Ombe-Gichuru performed oral sex on the boy, according to the documents.
The 5-year-old girl told her father that while in the pool, Wang’Ombe-Gichuru held her by her chest and lower body, moved her swimwear to the side and used his hand to repeatedly penetrate her vagina and anus, according to charging documents.
The boy told his father that Wang’Ombe-Gichuru also touched his genitals and buttocks under his clothing while he was underwater in the pool, according to the charging documents.
He told the boy “don’t tell anyone, this is a secret, don’t tell grandma or your dad or mom,” according to the documents.
When they arrived home, the children’s father tried to confront Wang’Ombe-Gichuru but he fled the scene, according to the documents.
The family of the children said they met Wang’Ombe-Gichuru at a trampoline park where he worked in Laurel and arranged for the lessons.
Police said the investigation is still active. The department is asking anyone with information to contact the Prince George’s County Police Department.
---
Silver Spring swim instructor charged with assaulting children during private lessons
FOX Baltimore (archive.ph)
By Ashley Burkett and Brad Bell
2025-07-30 19:25:47GMT
Wang’Ombe-Gichuru, 25, of Silver Spring, Maryland, was charged with sexually assaulting two children on July 22, 2025. (PGPD)
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — A Silver Spring swim instructor is charged with sexually assaulting two children during private swimming lessons, according to the Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD).
Tyler Wang’Ombe-Gichuru, 25, faces two counts of second-degree rape, along with multiple charges for sexual assaults and offenses, according to PGPD.
The two children, both under the age of 10, were assaulted by Wang’Ombe-Gichuru during private swim lessons, according to the agency's Child and Vulnerable Adult Abuse Unit (CVAA). Police said the victims' family hired the suspect to teach the children at a community center in Upper Marlboro on July 22.
The father of a 7-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy told 7News that Gichuru, whom he’d hired to teach his kids to swim, instead sexually assaulted them during and after a lesson as the dad sat nearby.
“I think he was brazen and targeted because he wasn’t afraid that a parent was also present,” said the father
7News is not sharing the man’s name to protect the identity of his children. But he chose to speak. He is angry and feels betrayed by Gichuru.
“This is not his first rodeo,” said the man, “because he was trusting..he had the modus operandi. He knew how to get you to trust him.”
Police said Wang’Ombe-Gichuru is not an employee of the community center; however, he works at a trampoline park in Laurel, where he met the victims' family. Police said how they met worried them, because that job and another job he had as a lifeguard and swim instructor with a pool management company gave Gichuru, who has a criminal record including prison time for a gun-related crime, access to many children.
A relative of two children reached out to PGPD to report the offenses, according to police.
Lt. Michael Snyder, who commands the PGPD child abuse unit, said he wants to send a message to parents who have had contact with the suspect.
“Talk to their children to find out if anything inappropriate or anything even remotely inappropriate has happened, and please contact us, and we will have further conversations with them,” Snyder said.
Maryland law doesn’t allow criminal background checks before someone is conditionally offered a job. The lawyer for the pool management company wouldn’t tell 7News' Brad Bell whether they did a background check on Gichuru. The owner of the trampoline park said he did not do one.
Wang’Ombe-Gichuru is being held without bond, and CVAA detectives are looking to speak with anyone with information in this investigation.
The father of the alleged victims said he wants justice.
“He uses the trust from being a swim instructor to get closer to kids and the law should take him away," the man said.
