A well-known name in the polo world is facing serious allegations of sexual assault involving underage girls.

Elite polo player turned coach John Gobin lives in West Palm Beach. He is charged with sex crimes and is the subject of a civil lawsuit for his alleged actions at his training facility in Virginia.

This Virginia civil lawsuit seeks more than $5 million from Gobin, accusing him of sexual crimes against a 16-year-old player and employee at his Virginia polo center.

“We’re suing him for statutory rape,” said attorney Ari Wilkenfeld, who represents the victim.

Wilkenfeld claims in the lawsuit that the 55-year-old used his position and influence in the sport to pressure her into sex, in many cases by paying her later.

“It was an easy decision to get involved in this case on behalf of the client,” Wilkenfeld said.

The lawsuit said “plaintiff was raped by Gobin more than 15 times.”

Wilkenfeld said the last straw for the victim was in West Palm Beach, where Gobin lives and where some of the alleged encounters took place. The lawsuit alleges the victim allegedly saw Gobin inappropriately touch a friend and colleague during a dinner party. Then the victim gave up.

“It could be anybody’s child,” Wilkenfeld said. “That could be my baby. It could be someone else who cares about his child. I think we can make a difference here.”

I contacted Gobin’s attorney, who filed a defamation countersuit.

In addition to the lawsuit, the Faquier County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia confirms Gobin was charged in June with two misdemeanor counts of having consensual sex with a child over the age of 15.

Gobin’s attorney said his client denies any wrongdoing. Telling WPTV in a statement the following:

“The two charges you refer to in your voicemail are misdemeanor charges based on statements made by two women who used to play polo with Mr. Gobin’s club. They changed their story several times. But based on the allegations, it appears they now claim Mr Gobin had consensual sex with them before he was 18. These claims are completely false lying about him. They have admitted to third parties that they see this as a way to publicly enrich us for you. give more life to these lies. I hope you will emphasize in your coverage. that these claims were not substantiated, that Mr. Gobin categorically denies the allegations and that he is presumed innocent of these charges”.

The United States Polo Association is also named in the lawsuit as one of the defendants. The association sent the following statement in which it says:

“The USPA charged player member John Gobin with a membership conduct violation based on allegations that Mr. Gobin engaged in sexual contact with women then under the age of 18 on multiple occasions. Mr. Gobin denied the allegations and the charge. Pending an appealable decision on the underlying allegations, the USPA has agreed to postpone the special Board meeting at which the allegations against Mr. Gobin will be considered to comply with the USPA Youth Protection Policy with a amended definition of “Youth, which covers any person under the age of 18 who is not one of his first or second degree relatives”.

Gobin has two outstanding warrants from Virginia, but the sheriff’s office there has no plans to extradite him because the charges are misdemeanors.

They said he would be arrested if he returned to Virginia.

Content for Scripps 2024 only