Ex-swim coach gets 35 years in sex case

Multiple charges involved minors

Stephen James Duwel, 50, of Rogers
Stephen James Duwel, 50, of Rogers

BENTONVILLE -- A former Northwest Arkansas swim coach has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for sex-related crimes involving minors.

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Stephen James Duwel, 50, of Rogers pleaded guilty Wednesday to Internet stalking of a child; engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print medium; five counts of distributing, possessing or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child; and fourth-degree sexual assault.

Duwel's plea was part of an agreement reached between Benton County chief deputy prosecutor Stuart Cearley and attorney Shane Wilkinson.

Duwel was arrested July 20.

He was head coach of the Northwest Arkansas Aquatics swim team. He also was a volunteer swim coach at Bentonville High School. He was fired from both positions after his arrest.

According to a probable-cause affidavit, he was arrested after a relative of a teenage boy told Rogers police that the youth was involved in a sexual relationship with an older male. The teen told police that he met Duwel through a mobile application. The teen said he had to enter his age as 18 to use the app, and he initiated contact with Duwel, the affidavit says.

The affidavit and court documents also stated that Duwel and the boy exchanged phone numbers two or three months after they began communicating via the app. They met at a Springdale roller rink. Duwel and the teen went to see a movie together, and the teen visited Duwel's home.

Duwel told police about an encounter at his home where he gave the boy a massage.

Police found text messages between Duwel and the teen. In one text, the teen told Duwel that he was in the eighth grade and would be 15 on his next birthday. Duwel replied that they could only be friends and that "making out" would be about as far as they could go.

Duwel told police that he initially believed the boy was 18, but he didn't stop texting him when he learned the teen's true age.

Cearley told Circuit Judge Brad Karren that Duwel had sexual contact with the 14-year-old boy and that police had discovered that Duwel had five digital images of nude minors.

Karren accepted the plea agreement. Duwel's only comments in court were to answer that he was guilty in response to questions from Karren.

After his sentencing, Duwel was handcuffed and taken to the Benton County jail where he is to await transfer to state prison. He will be required to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison.

Duwel also faces charges of lewd molestation and soliciting child pornography in Tulsa. The charges stem from accusations that he sent an explicit video of himself to a boy in April 2015 and that he engaged in sexual activities with the teenager at a Tulsa hotel the next month, according to the Tulsa World.

Metro on 04/29/2016

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