East Bay tennis coach accused of child molestation takes stand, says boy ‘intimidated’ him into confessing

MARTINEZ — An accomplished Bay Area tennis coach accused of molesting teen students took the stand Thursday and Friday to deny the charges against him.

On cross-examination, Normandie Burgos, 55, was grilled by the prosecutor who asked him about a video recording taken by one of his alleged victims, which shows Burgos agreeing with the boy as he describes the two engaging in various sex acts.

“I agreed with him because I was intimidated,” Burgos said. He testified that his abusive childhood causes him to be submissive when he is put into stressful situations.

“So when a 16-year-old boy tells you that you had oral sex with him, you don’t say, ‘What are you talking about,’ you just agree?” deputy district attorney Jordan Sanders shot back.

“Yeah, that’s the way I was raised,” Burgos replied.

“You were raised to agree that you molested a child?” Sanders asked.

“I was raised to not be conflictual, or else I got beat up,” Burgos said. He later added, “You didn’t see how he was looking at me.”

Burgos faces 60 charges that allege he molested two teen boys, both students through his private instruction company, the Burgos Tennis Foundation. Burgos is a former tennis teacher at a Marin high school, and lost his job after students accused him of inappropriate touching. He was tried in 2010, but the jury couldn’t reach a verdict.

Burgos’ testimony came days after testimony from both boys, where the prosecution introduced into evidence a surreptitiously-recorded video showing a meeting between Burgos and one of the boys. In it, the boy tells Burgos he enjoyed a sex act with him more than he does with his girlfriend.

“Cuz I really care,” Burgos says. The boy then asks if he was “the only one” who Burgos had sex with and Burgos replies, “Yeah.”

“I let you do stuff to me that I never let people do,” Burgos says.

When questioned Sanders question him about that portion of the tape, Burgos said the boy “dominated” him during the conversation.

“If you’re much larger than me and I am intimidated, I would agree to you,” Burgos said.

Burgos is a former tennis instructor at Tamalpais High School in Marin. His tenure there ended in 2006 when he was accused of molesting teen students. He received a large amount of support from local parents and took his case to trial, which resulted in a hung jury. He was freed after prosecutors declined to re-charge him.

On Monday, jurors will hear closing arguments.