The parents of a Florida teen are suing LA Fitness for negligence after their daughter was allegedly sexually assaulted by one of their gym members.
Sean Brophy and Yanira Pohlmann took legal action last week in Miami-Dade County. They filed civil suits against the gym’s parent company, Fitness International, and the accused individual, Richard Bosch.
According to the complaint, ‘Bosch committed an intentional assault, battery, sexual assault and offensive conduct on [the teen] without consent.’
The family’s attorney also said that Bosch had exhibited similar behavior in the past, and only received a ‘warning’ from the gym.
The young girl, now 16, only identified as K.B. in the complaint, went to the gym with a group of friends May 2023.
Richard Bosch, a 22-year-old gym member, allegedly engaged in inappropriate behavior towards a teenager. The complaint states that he asked the teen inappropriate questions and then followed her into a workout area where he assaulted her.
The teen managed to escape from the attacker, feeling terrified, and fled the gym. She promptly contacted her father for help, who in turn alerted the authorities and went to her aid.
Police arrived at the gym and arrested Bosch, now 24. He was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation on a child 12 to 16 years old.
Through a plea deal Bosch pleaded guilty to felony battery and was placed on a four-year probation. In February, he violated the probation and was arrested for criminal mischief, as per NBC6 South Florida.
Family attorney Evan Robinson of Leesfield & Partners told Daily Mail that the case shows a ‘gross violation of basic safety standards.’
‘What makes this case particularly egregious is this disturbing incident was entirely foreseeable,’ the attorney said. ‘LA Fitness knew that this assailant was a dangerous individual with violent propensities.’
Richard Bosch, now 24, pleaded guilty to felony battery and was placed on a four-year probation. In February, he violated the probation and was arrested for criminal mischief, as per a report
Richard Bosch is pictured on the gym floor looking at the young victim rushes past him after the brazen attack at the LA Fitness gym in Miami in May 2023
The attorney claimed Bosch was acting belligerent at the gym weeks before the attack when he was allegedly ‘screaming at the top of his lungs challenging someone to fight him.’
Also, Bosch had ‘previously received a warning by the gym for similar conduct,’ Robinson stated.
‘All LA Fitness needed to do to from having this sickening assault from happening was to revoke this guy’s membership,’ Robinson said.
‘But instead they didn’t do anything to restrict his access to the gym and did not closely monitor the guy when he was at the gym.
The complaint alleges that K.B. has suffered lasting psychological trauma from the experience and was required to undergoe extensive psychiatric treatment.
Her family is seeking damages in excess of $5,000,000.
Jonathan M. Midwall, one of the lawyers representing Fitness International, told Daily Mail on Friday that ‘Fitness does not comment on pending litigation as a matter of policy.’
The ugly incident began on May 30, 2023, when the victims father dropped his daughter off at the gym to work out with a few of her friends at around 8pm.
The young girl’s friends informed her that a man, who was later identified as Richard Bosch, was staring at her and asked her friends how old she was.
LA Fitness located on SW 8th Street near 141st Avenue in Miami where the assault occurred
Uncomfortable by what was taking place the teen walked into a boxing area to continue exercising.
Bosch followed her into the isolated room – that reportedly had no working security cameras.
He asked her how old she was and when she told him she was 14, he told her that he was 20-years-old when his true age was 22.
He then proceeded to ask her inappropriate and disturbing questions such as, ‘if she was a virgin?’ If she ‘had ever tapped out during sex?’ and ‘whether she had ever been with an older man?’ according to the complaint.
The panicked young girl tried to move away from Bosch but ‘he cornered her and groped her genital area and buttocks,’ as per the suit.
Bosch proceeded to lift up his shirt and pull down his pants just above his pubic area to show the youngster that he had an erection, the suit alleges.
The victim yelled out ‘what are you doing?’ as Bosch pleaded ‘you’re so tiny, you’re so cute!’ the suit states.
According to the complaint, Bosch did not respond to her pleas and continued to ‘grope her, pin her up on the wall, and proceeded to grab her by her inner thighs, near her genital area.’
The victim ran into the next room where Bosch continued to physically corner her and assault her before she was able to run into the women’s locker room to safety as Bosch stood outside of the locker room screaming her name, as per the suit.
Surveillance footage captured from LA Fitness shows the young girl, dressed in a black hoodie and black bicycle shorts, walking quickly from the locker to the exit of the gym.
Video shows Bosch reportedly grabbing her arm to prevent her from leaving before she yells out ‘Leave me alone!’ as many other gym goers look on, the court documents show.
After the incident many witnesses provided statements to police. Robinson shared some of the statement with Daily Mail with one gym member claiming that ‘Bosch was always around younger kids 14, 15 and 16 year-olds.’
Another witness told police that he once saw Bosch ‘corner’ another young girl. While another member said that he was ‘weird’ and that he made his ‘girlfriend feel uncomfortable.’
Fitness International, LLC operates under the brand names LA Fitness, Esporta Fitness, City Sports Club, and Club Studio and has more than 700 locations across 27 U.S. states and Canada.
In July 2024, the company acquired XSports Fitness 35 locations and expanding into the New York, Chicago and Virginia markets.
