SALISBURY — A former Catawba College soccer coach waived arraignment on three charges Monday morning that he molested children while employed at the school more than two decades ago.
Ralph Wager was served in November with three new counts of felony indecent liberties with children, stemming from alleged incidents from June 1990 to July 1990.
Authorities said the new charges involve a different victim. Deputies said he was 13 at the time.
Wager’s attorney, Darren Jordan, was in Rowan County Superior Court Monday, but Wager waived the formal reading of his charges and did not appear.
The 69-year-old was originally arrested in July and charged with nine counts of felony sex offenses. In those charges, investigators said, the alleged victim went to officers after searching online for the former coach.
When the man learned Wager was still coaching youth soccer in Charlotte, deputies said, he called law enforcement.
Wager has been free since posting a $400,000 bond in August. After being served at the Magistrate’s Office on Nov. 8 for the new charges, Wager posted an additional $150,000.
During a bond hearing in August, prosecutors said new evidence showed Wager was accused of inappropriately touching two others while on campus from 1987 to 1990.
Assistant District Attorney Seth Banks said a soccer player who attended on-campus camps during the 1980s told detectives Wager would come into his room while he was asleep and give him massages.
The boy “would describe them as inappropriate,” Banks said.