In a scene that seemed to be straight from "Dateline: To Catch a Predator," a former youth-league swim coach was arrested in connection with a child sex predator sting.
Authorities said Bryan Woodward, of Gainesville, drove 124 miles to have sex with a 14-year-old he met in an online chat room.
Woodward, 29, was arrested in Osceola County on Jan. 9 on counts of traveling to seduce a child to commit sex acts and using a computer to solicit sex with a child, authorities said.
He told police he was a head swim coach at Gator Swim Club, a division of Swim America that practices at the O'Connell Center. Most of the swimmers he coached were under 18.
Woodward was one of 40 suspects arrested as a part of Operation Red Cheeks, according to the Osceola County Sheriff's Office. Others arrested as part of the sting operation were a professional golfer, an eighth-grade teacher, a retired Georgia beekeeper and eight students, including one who is in high school.
According to a Sheriff's Office affidavit, Woodward chatted and exchanged photos online with an undercover detective who he thought was a 14-year-old.
"How do I know ur not a cop or something," he said to the detective via chat. "I could show up and the cops could be waiting for me."
He arrived at the neighborhood where the undercover house was located and drove around before authorities arrested him. He had purchased M&M's on his way for the child, authorities said.
Linzi Sheppard, a coach who worked with Gator Swim, said she was shocked by the news.
"I would have never expected this," said Sheppard, 22.
Sheppard remembered Woodward as an always-professional colleague and a remarkable coach. They exchanged small talk often because they shared the pool deck most afternoons from June until about December.
"My impression of him was that he was definitely a dedicated coach as far as caring about the swimmers and everything," she said. "I would just notice he would push them and want them to do the best that they could while they were at practice. Clearly there was no [suspicion], anything that I would recognize."
Woodward was released Wednesday evening on $11,500 bond, authorities said.
