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Man, 75, faces up to 20 years in jail for groping 10-year-old girl in Middleburg Heights pool

Posted at 5:35 PM, Aug 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-17 17:35:39-04

A man was found guilty on Thursday of groping a 10-year-old girl in a Middleburg Heights Recreation Center pool.

The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office says on March 11, two 10-year-old girls were swimming at the rec center when they splashed water at Nikolay Kalka, 75. Kalka, a Ukranian-born pastor, splashed back and asked the girls to come into the water next to him, according to authorities. The girls refused and moved to a different area of the pool.

Later, one of the girls swam by Kalka to get to a waterslide when he grabbed and held her on his lap for nearly a minute, according to officials. He groped her during that time.

The girl's friend tried to pull her away from him, but was unable to.

After a three day trial, the jury found Kalka guilty of two counts of gross sexual imposition and one count of kidnapping.

Kalka faces up to 20 years to life in prison, because the kidnapping charge carries a sexual motivation specification.