BOERNE — Investigators are asking potential victims to step forward as part of a widening probe into a longtime Boerne gymnastics coach charged with indecency with a child whose career goes back decades.
As first reported by the Star, Michael Spiller, 75, was arrested Nov. 22 on the third-degree felony charge after a woman accused him of exposing himself and inappropriately touching her in 2001 and 2002 at a camp Spiller hosted at Boerne Gymnastics.
On Tuesday, a Kendall County grand jury handed up an indictment against Spiller.
Spiller was released on a $150,000 bond from the Kendall County Jail the same morning, but promptly rebooked after prosecutors filed a second charge and carried out a second arrest warrant, officials said.
Spiller is facing a second third-degree felony charge of indecency with a child and being held on an additional $100,000 bail, racking up a $250,000 total for his release.
Meanwhile, District Attorney Nicole Bishop and Police Chief Steve Perez held a joint news conference Tuesday and asked others to contact Boerne law enforcement if they believe they were victimized.
“What I really want to bring home about this press conference and why it’s so important to me – this is the first one I’ve ever done in my career – and the reason it is so important to me is because of the potential victims that are out there,” Bishop said. “We want people to feel safe and know that they are not alone. And, like I said, this jurisdiction cares not just about the people who may have been victims in our community but through the entirety of a 60-year career.”
Although Spiller’s career as a gymnastics coach spans almost six decades and several countries, states and Texas cities, the district attorney said prosecutors want to hear from any possible victims seeking closure.
“It is important for us to make sure that we get justice for anybody else who has been a victim,” Bishop said.
Officials said so far a handful of women have come forward to pursue complaints against Spiller, although at deadline only two charges had been filed.
However, investigators suspect there may be more possible victims considering the outcries date as far back as 1983 and as recent as 2002. According to Perez, the complainants were 10 to 12 years old when the incidents they report occurred.
Spiller’s career began in California shortly after he returned from the Vietnam War in 1972, according to a biography he wrote when receiving a coaching award by the Gymnastics Association of Texas in 2017.
In 1976, he opened a gym in Houston before working in Switzerland, New Mexico and Hawaii. He later began his work with Boerne Gymnastics.
The Tuesday indictment naming Spiller stems from an outcry from a former neighbor in Houston who, according to an arrest warrant affidavit, accused Spiller of exposing himself to her and other girls while transporting them from Houston to the camp in Boerne.
The Star does not name victims in cases involving crimes of a sexual nature.
According to a search warrant signed by 451st state District Judge Kirsten Cohoon, investigators visiting a residence where Spiller resides — owned by the Boerne Gymnastics proprietor, according to Kendall County Appraisal District property records– retrieved four film rolls, multiple film negatives, multiple CDs and DVRs, two binders full of photo negatives, a VHS tape and a photo album from his 2001 camp.
According to the search warrant, the victim accused Spiller of recording girls staying in a rental in Boerne while attending the local camp and entering the girl’s cabin after repeatedly being told to leave.
According to Perez, Spiller was coaching at Boerne Gymnastics as recently as May 2021.
Perez said investigators have reached out to the gym owner, but he said “cooperation (with her) has been minimal.”
Attempts by the Star to reach the owner for comment have been unsuccessful.
As of Tuesday night, Spiller remained in the county lockup.
Bishop said the investigation is far from over.
“To anyone that believes that they are a victim … we are here to help,” Bishop said. “It is our top priority to provide a safe, secure and supportive environment for those who may wish to come forward. It takes courage to speak out, and we will honor that courage.”
– Kendall County DA Nicole Bishop
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