Charge: Youth wrestling coach assaulted girl in Eden Prairie

A youth wrestling coach sexually assaulted a female athlete in Eden Prairie, according to charges.

Mustafa S. Shabazz, 43, of Burnsville, was charged Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court with one count of second-degree sexual assault.

Shabazz could not be reached for comment and did not have an attorney listed for his case. He was charged via summons, meaning he will be allowed to turn himself in to authorities at a later date.

Shabazz is accused of assaulting a girl under the age of 12 in early 2018 while coaching her in a program held at Eden Prairie High School, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.

Shabazz was employed as an assistant wrestling coach at Eden Prairie High School for the 2018-2019 season, but the alleged crime did not involve a student from the school district or occur at a school-sponsored event, said Brett Johnson, a spokesman for Eden Prairie Schools.

"There are many organizations that rent school facilities," said Johnson, who said he could not confirm that the alleged assault occurred on school grounds.

He added that the district has received no complaints about Shabazz's time as a coach at the high school, and that Shabazz had also worked as a coach for JJ Trained Wrestling School.

JJ Trained said in a statement that Shabazz was a volunteer coach with MNUSA coach certification, which required him to pass a background check. It said he resigned in June 2019 after the allegations were made.

According to the complaint: In February, Shakopee and Eden Prairie police began investigating allegations that Shabazz had inappropriate conduct with "adolescent female athletes" he coached.

The girl in the Hennepin County case told a friend and her parents that Shabazz assaulted her. She had trained with Shabazz in early 2018 and refused to wrestle in spring 2019.

She told an investigator that Shabazz touched her "numerous" times while demonstrating wrestling "moves," and claimed the incidents were accidents, the charges said.

In a different case that was not charged in Hennepin County due to its location, another adolescent girl reported in 2019 that Shabazz touched her inappropriately, hugged her tightly and made her uncomfortable during wrestling events "throughout the state," the charges said.

Police also discovered that Shabazz had been dismissed from another job in 2013 for inappropriate behavior with a 14-year-old girl, including meeting her at a motel room.