This article was updated August 1.
A visiting fencing coach was charged Tuesday with molesting a 14-year-old girl who was participating in the University's summer fencing camp.
The girl told police that Gustavo Ducuing, 56, sexually assaulted her during a private lesson at his apartment the night of July 23, allegedly touching her inappropriately and asking her to take off her clothes, the Providence Journal reported.
After the camper reported the incident to her counselor, Ducuing, a visiting coach from California, was detained by campus police and turned over to the Providence Police Department, according to a University statement. Ducuing was charged with simple assault and second-degree sexual assault, the Journal reported. He was arraigned Tuesday with bail set at $15,000.
All summer camp participants and their families are being notified about the incident, wrote Darlene Trew Crist, director of news and communications at the University, in an email to The Herald. The Office of Campus Life and Student Services is also offering counseling services to all of the program's participants, according to the University statement.
Ducuing was prohibited from returning to campus during the investigation, according to the University statement. In light of the incident, the University plans to examine its policies and ensure that they keep summer campers as safe as possible, wrote Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, in an email to The Herald.
Ducuing has been a fencing coach for over 20 years and has held coaching positions for the Argentinian and Italian national fencing teams, according to the Italian Fencing Academy website. He is also a seven-time South American fencing champion. Ducuing has coached at the summer fencing camp since 2010, Trew Crist wrote. Keith Tucker, commanding officer in the Providence Police Department's Investigative Division, did not return multiple requests for comment.
