Home Forums Long Island & Eastern New York Soccer Message Boards BOTN Main Message Board Queens Soccer Coach Allegedly Abused Student for Over 5 Years: Prosecutors

By Kiki Intarasuwan • Published March 18, 2021 • Updated on March 19, 2021 at 3:35 am

A New York City soccer coach accused of sexually abusing an underage student for several years has been indicted, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The Queens District Attorney announced that Jose Claros, 57, was charged with sexual conduct against a child and sex abuse. Claros allegedly began abusing a 12-year-old boy in his Richmond Hill home up until the victim was 17 years old, according to authorities.

Claros, who was a coach for the Metropolitan Oval Academy, allegedly drove the victim home after they met at a Memorial Day weekend tournament in 2013 and offered to train him alone for free. A week later, the boy showed up at Claros' home for training but the soccer practice turned sexual after Claros allegedly kissed the victim, investigators said.

The sexual abuse continued after soccer drills and training until 2018, prosecutors said.

"The mother of this aspiring soccer player allowed her son to be alone with the defendant believing he would be a mentor and help her son realize his athletic potential," District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a news release. "Instead, the defendant allegedly betrayed that trust and sexually abused the boy for years."

Claros is expected to appear in court on March 25. It's unclear if he has obtained a representative who can speak on his behalf.

from a parent of one of the players

Between me and you Hugo Guzman from NYCFC was coaching at Met Oval and brought Jose in with his AGILITY & QUICKNESS | NYX-TREME SAQ which now we know was all [****]. With the help of Hugo he used kids in NYCFC uniforms to attract more kids by claiming he trained them and got them on NYCFC. Jeff Saunders let Jose use the Met Oval field and gave him access to all the kids. Saunders is garbage, anything to make a buck. Jose branched out all over Queens training hundreds of kids. He also used Forest Park and College Point in Queens. As well as an indoor place he rented.

It’s like the [****] you see in movies. First Jose would train them then take them to watch pro soccer games. He took kids upstate and on boat rides. We thought what a great guy. WE ARE ALL SO [****] STUPID.

Met Oval are trying to sweep this atrocity under the rug and wait it out like Andrew Cuomo. I hold the entire Met Oval Board of Directors responsible starting wit Jeffrey Saunders. In his quest for money and glory he ignored the safety of the children. NYCFC have also said and done NOTHING about their "Affiliate Club" or the fact that Jose Carlos used NYCFC to lure victims. Yes I said victims because any one who believes this is an isolated incident is as big a moron as Saunders. The signs were all there and there is no need to go through this horror story. But there is one fact that no one seems to notice. There are no images or videos of Jose Carlos online, not on his website, instagram, or even facebook. He's a ghost. Why would anyone go to such lengths to hide their face ? This should have been a huge RED FLAG. Those of us who do know who he is can see him lurking in the background of Met Oval's video's on YouTube. I hope this post finds the right people and the authorities. The US Soccer Federation, MLS, and NYCFC should be stepping up and shut Met Oval down IMMEDIATELY ! They need to find out if there are a other predators in the system and put in place a program to prevent this from happening again. ACT NOW because it is TOO LATE !

There is now way of knowing how much about this Matt Pilkington knew or didn't know but there is a connection between the two. Jose Carlos would contact Pilkington with players he would recommend to the NYCFC academy. I'm a parent and want to see no stone unturned. NYCFC and Pilkington need to make a statement. There is nothing I want to hear from Guzman, no apology will fix this.

Is this the same Pilkington that was or still is involved with Valencia?

I don't think so

This POS was Hugo’s guy 100%. Guy ran SAQ classes out of building basement in Kew Gardens. Their relationship goes back to Hugo’s Met Oval Days. When Hugo went to NYCFC he brought his baggage. Carlos Guzman was around already before current coaches were even there. It’s more of a Met Oval problem because those classes were filled with more of those kids then anything else.

Leigh Pilkington is the lad who runs Valencia. His brother Matt coaches at NYCFC.

Investigate all present and former Met Oval coaches, DOC and trainers.

What’s more troubling then anything else is that Met Oval basically outsourced their players to an individual who had not passed their own risk assessment. MO is going to deny any association with this Jose Claros character but those in the know will attest that the main reason they attended NYX-TREME SAQ sessions was because it, (1) helped open the door to Met Oval DA/MLS Next, or (2) help solidify playing time with Met Oval DA/MKS Next.

If I was victimized, I would sue the hell out of Met Oval. They pimped their kids.

Looks like quite a few clubs need to be investigated, all of the above mentioned clubs. This is VERY disturbing.

So you think nycfcand Valencia should be investigated besides met oval

Any other clubs mentioned that missed

Let’s see how serious Met Oval is about distancing themselves from this matter. Hugo
Guzman created a situation where he steered players to and outside vendor to work with his players. Dude turned out to be a creep and was not properly vetted by the club. Not good, right? Well Met Oval still does it. Met Oval East which is ran by Yannick Salmon steers players to his “All Things Football” training program. Kids attend that with hopes of being asked to tryout or maintain playing time. Are all of those coaches vetted? Outside trainers don’t need coaching passes and that means no background check. There is no oversight even if they say there is. Sorry Met Oval, you can’t play dumb. It negligent behavior that needs to be addressed.

Yes! Anyone affiliated with this mess!

Wait a minute. Doesn't ENYYSA have to approve trainers or trainers need to apply? ENYYSA has a lot to do with trainers as there is a long, long list of trainers ENYYSA publishes as approved....I think ENYYSA is balls deep in this mess.

5 years is lot of abusing for a kid starting at 12. This is really sad . I can’t imagine the family pain and anger.

It’s all a money making scheme NYCFC and met oval I’ve been doing this for years Hugo Guzman and Jeff Saunders and Rodrigo Marion are all accountable for this along with Jose Carlos. Lining their pockets with money and not giving a care in the world for the kids I hope all the parents that have their kids that were training with this guy Jose checked and I bet you more kids will come forward it’s a shame and a sad day in the Futbol world

what about this guy from valencia the pilkington guy who is also with met oval that a poster wrote about above. all these clubs seem to be alike

Let me make this very CLEAR. Parents were told by training with Hugo and Jose Carlos they would get their kids on NYCFC. They did place players on NYCFC and it had to go through Matt Pilkington. By Pilkington allowing this he gave a child abuser and his accomplice CREDIBILITY ! I don't know if Pilkington knew what was going on but I do know he doesn't give a [****] about the kids. It's all about him and his reputation. He loves to take credit for players accomplishments. Will he be a man and take responsibility for the unimaginable hurt that has been caused ? The answer is no because he is a [****] piece of [****] and should crawl back up his mothers ass where he came out of.

In one of the posts above Larry mentioned the guy pilkington and asked about him and is this guy pilkington a part of Valencia . Does anybody know how many boys were bothered

I like your enthusiasm but I don’t think you get the point. Club trainers are vetted by ENYYSA and SafeSport. All club coaches should be subject to and pass a background check. What the problem here is trainers outside that network. Met Oval has done this with NYX-Treme and All Things Football. Both training g companies have Met Oval coaches involved and encourage MO players to attend. The problem is the non Met Oval Coaches that work there. They are not vetted and have not been scrutinized. Jose Claros is the unfortunate example.

Those other coaches that work with NYCFC and Valencia all have passes, just like every other club.

I don't believe those passes mean anything. I doubt this guy up on charges would have been flagged since it appears he has no record. Same with the coaches that pass background checks. Bottomline for me is simple. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CHILD WITH ANY COACH OR TRAINER. Stay until the practice or session is over especially for one-on-one training.

I can't believe that people just drop off their kids and go! I never have!

A child should never be left alone with an adult one on one. It is the basis for many a sex scandal. Parents dropping their kid off at a trainers house, and getting a ride home from tournaments without anyone around. There is no team your kid could make that is worth that risk.

The background check is worthless if the criminal has no record. This trainer was well known in the soccer community I am told, suspected of being gay but never suspected of anything this awful.

As for background checks they don't seem to mean much since DOXA has a convicted felon on their staff. Old drug offense from early 2000's but 18 months in federal prison. Parents google search anyone you trust with your kids and your money.

How can this kid be abused for five or six years and no one noticed not even his parents. I understand if the child is Young and it happens a few times at the kid is afraid or unaware what is going on, but if the kid is 16 or 17 years old why would he allow this man to have sexual intercourse with the player actively look for the man. From what I understand the man is almost 60 years old don't you think the 16 year old boy would be able to fight him off, instead of communicating with this sick individual.