DENVER – Walter James Winkler, age 48, formerly of El Paso County, Colorado, pled guilty this week to sexual abuse of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn and FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Dean Phillips. The guilty plea was before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Philip A. Brimmer. Winkler appeared at the hearing free on bond, which was continued at the hearing’s conclusion. He will be sentenced by Chief Judge Brimmer on September 27, 2019.
According to the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, between 1994 and 2018, Winkler worked as a youth swimming coach at Fort Carson Army Base in Colorado, Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, and East High School in Wyoming. On November 10, 2017, Swimming authorities received an anonymous online tip which was forwarded to the U.S. Center for SafeSport in Colorado Springs. The tip alleged that Winkler had inappropriate sexual relationships with two minors when he was a coach at Fort Carson in the 1990s.
According to the plea agreement, Winkler first started by making sexual comments to a 12 year old minor and getting “touchy feely” when he started coaching her. Then one day he asked the girl to stay late after practice. Winkler then sexually assaulted her. There were additional alleged incidents of sexual assault from approximately 1994 through 1998. He also had sex with another girl at the Fort Carson pool during this same time period. The U.S. Center for SafeSport suspended Winkler from coaching on February 21, 2018. He resigned as a high school swimming coach in Cheyenne shortly thereafter.
“Sexual abuse of a minor by a person in a position of trust is a horrific crime that we will pursue aggressively every time,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn. It is possible there were more victims, perhaps in Colorado or Wyoming. If anyone has information about inappropriate sexual contact by Winkler during his coaching career please call the FBI at 303-629-7171.
This case was investigated by the FBI with support from a number of local law enforcement agencies.
Description: The fiscal year of the data file obtained from the AOUSC
Format: YYYY
Description: The code of the federal judicial circuit where the case was located
Format: A2
Description: The code of the federal judicial district where the case was located
Format: A2
Description: The code of the district office where the case was located
Format: A2
Description: Docket number assigned by the district to the case
Format: A7
Description: A unique number assigned to each defendant in a case which cannot be modified by the court
Format: A3
Description: A unique number assigned to each defendant in a case which can be modified by the court
Format: A3
Description: A sequential number indicating whether a case is an original proceeding or a reopen
Format: N5
Description: Case type associated with the current defendant record
Format: A2
Description: A concatenation of district, office, docket number, case type, defendant number, and reopen sequence number
Format: A18
Description: A concatenation of district, office, docket number, case type, and reopen sequence number
Format: A15
Description: The status of the defendant as assigned by the AOUSC
Format: A2
Description: A code indicating the fugitive status of a defendant
Format: A1
Description: The date upon which a defendant became a fugitive
Format: YYYYMMDD
Description: The date upon which a fugitive defendant was taken into custody
Format: YYYYMMDD
Description: The date when a case was first docketed in the district court
Format: YYYYMMDD
Description: The date upon which proceedings in a case commenced on charges pending in the district court where the defendant appeared, or the date of the defendant’s felony-waiver of indictment
Format: YYYYMMDD
Description: A code used to identify the nature of the proceeding
Format: N2
Description: The date when a defendant first appeared before a judicial officer in the district court where a charge was pending
Format: YYYYMMDD
Description: A code indicating the type of legal counsel assigned to a defendant
Format: N2
Description: The title and section of the U.S. Code applicable to the offense committed which carried the highest severity
Format: A20
Description: A code indicating the level of offense associated with FTITLE1
Format: N2
Description: The four digit AO offense code associated with FTITLE1
Format: A4
Description: The four digit D2 offense code associated with FTITLE1
Format: A4
Description: A code indicating the severity associated with FTITLE1
Format: A3
Description: The FIPS code used to indicate the county or parish where an offense was committed
Format: A5
Description: The date of the last action taken on the record
Format: YYYYMMDD
Description: The date upon which judicial proceedings before the court concluded
Format: YYYYMMDD
Description: The date upon which the final sentence is recorded on the docket
Format: YYYYMMDD
Description: The date upon which the case was closed
Format: YYYYMMDD
Description: The total fine imposed at sentencing for all offenses of which the defendant was convicted and a fine was imposed
Format: N8
Description: A count of defendants filed including inter-district transfers
Format: N1
Description: A count of defendants filed excluding inter-district transfers
Format: N1
Description: A count of original proceedings commenced
Format: N1
Description: A count of defendants filed whose proceedings commenced by reopen, remand, appeal, or retrial
Format: N1
Description: A count of defendants terminated including interdistrict transfers
Format: N1
Description: A count of defendants terminated excluding interdistrict transfers
Format: N1
Description: A count of original proceedings terminated
Format: N1
Description: A count of defendants terminated whose proceedings commenced by reopen, remand, appeal, or retrial
Format: N1
Description: A count of defendants pending as of the last day of the period including long term fugitives
Format: N1
Description: A count of defendants pending as of the last day of the period excluding long term fugitives
Format: N1
Description: The source from which the data were loaded into the AOUSC’s NewSTATS database
Format: A10
Description: A sequential number indicating the iteration of the defendant record
Format: N2
Description: The date the record was loaded into the AOUSC’s NewSTATS database
Format: YYYYMMDD
Description: Statistical year ID label on data file obtained from the AOUSC which represents termination year
