Accused New York softball coach investigated in Petaluma

A former Sonoma County club softball coach facing almost 100 sex-related offenses involving his female players at a New York Christian college was investigated for allegations of misdemeanor crimes in Sonoma County, according to Petaluma police.

Petaluma police in 2013 investigated allegations against former Petaluma resident Kurt Ludwigsen, 43. The allegations regarded reports of inappropriate behavior involving some of Ludwigsen’s Sonoma County teen softball players, Petaluma Lt. Danny Fish said Tuesday.

“We had similar allegations,” Fish said, referring to the current case in Nyack, N.Y.

“Everything that allegedly happened, all of it happened well outside the statute of limitations,” Fish said. “It was a very, very difficult case. We were lacking a lot of information.”

Ludwigsen now is accused of 94 counts of forcible touching of another’s sexual parts and harassment involving unwanted physical contact involving 13 of his players at Nyack College. The suspected crimes occurred starting in the fall, soon after Ludwigsen was hired as head coach, according to police.

The allegations were made in March and the coach was fired.

Nyack police reported they arrested Ludwigsen last week.

A Nyack detective has been in contact with Petaluma detectives to gather background on the local investigation, Fish said.

Ludwigsen had coached in Sonoma County for more than 10 years. In 2004, after two years volunteering as an assistant softball coach at Sonoma State, he founded the Nor Cal Assault 18 Gold Junior Olympic travel softball team program. That program was aimed at elite teen and adult players who played games and tournaments throughout the country and in Canada.

In June 2013, a person contacted Petaluma police to report allegations regarding Ludwigsen’s conduct that involved some team members, ages 14-18, during a period from about 2010 and earlier, Fish said. The allegations suggested misdemeanor sexual annoying or harassing a minor, which has a one-year statute of limitations, Fish said.

The allegations didn’t evolve into a criminal case as detectives who contacted former players received a range of information, he said. Some reported crimes that were too old to prosecute. In some cases, there were contradictory statements. Some players and parents denied that incidents occurred, or said whatever happened wasn’t intentional, Fish said.

Petaluma police were investigating the coach because he lived in the town, though he had moved by the time the investigation began. Fish said none of the allegations involved incidents occurring in Sonoma County.

One former Sonoma County softball player Tuesday spoke of her experience on Ludwigsen’s team, on condition her name not be published. The young woman, who played on the Nor Cal Assault team as a high school sophomore, said multiple incidents included the coach groping her chest on one occasion while the team was in Southern California for games.

She said she was traumatized and quit the team but wasn’t ready to talk to police until years later, as an adult. During the Petaluma investigation she said she gave full details to a Petaluma detective, including locations of where the alleged incidents occurred.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” she said. “I want people to know it happened in Sonoma County and not just New York.”

Petaluma police confirmed that they spoke to the woman as part of their investigation, but did not detail what she had told them.

“It happened to multiple girls. Unfortunately none of them were coming forward. A lot of these girls were just so infatuated with the idea they could be playing,” she said. “He was promising them scholarships and that (playing on the Nor Cal team) was their golden ticket.”

You can reach Staff ?Writer Randi ?Rossmann at 521-5412 or ?randi.rossmann@press?demo?crat.com or Twitter?@rossmannreport.