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Video May Have Evidence In Referee Groping Case

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - The families of four girls say a 52-year-old referee inappropriately touched them during basketball games he officiated in Lakewood.

Stephen Amador faced a judge on Tuesday, a day after being arrested by Lakewood police. He was advised that he faces nine counts of unlawful sexual assaults, with four victims involved. The judge set the bond at $5,000.

Lakewood police spokesman Steve Davis told CBS4 high school players and their parents have come forward.

"We have a total of four separate victims, but we also have a total of nine separate incidents," Davis said.

An arrrest warrant in the case indicates one player claims the referee handed off the ball to inbound and "brushed the underside of her breasts." She said it happened twice.

Another player claims the same thing, and other players told police things like he "touched her butt" or would "grab my right butt check" or he was "cupping my butt."

Davis said the incidents happened while parents were in the stands. According to the report, some of the accusations against Amador were captured on video.

Amador lives with his parents and at his home on Monday his mother told CBS4 she's not aware of any of the details of the case. She did say her son is a father and a grandfather who has been a referee for 15 years.

"Mr. Amador is a native of Colorado, he's gainfully employed and has been for years," Amador's attorney Kevin Moore told CBS4. "He's a father, he's a grandfather, he's refereed, obviously, as we know about the case. I believe he's innocent."

According to the Colorado High School Athletic Association Amador has been registered to ref games since 2004, but his full time job for the last eight years has been as the staff accountant for the board of the Metropolitan State University of Denver Foundation. He is not an employee of CHSAA.

Police said it's possible there are more victims in the case.

Additional Resources

Lakewood police posted the following bulletin as part of their news release to the media:

"Detectives are asking anyone who feels they may have information that would assist in the investigation and/or regarding Mr. Amador to contact Detective Gherardini at 303-987-7225."

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