Colorado personal trainer convicted of sexual assault of a child

A personal trainer in Colorado was convicted by a jury last week of multiple charges related to sexual assault of minors who were athletes at his Parker gym.

In 2022, Parker police arrested personal trainer Aaron Carrado for sexually assaulting one of the kids he was training. At the time, they were looking for other possible victims.

On Thursday, a jury found him guilty of 12 charges, including six counts of "sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust as a pattern of abuse."

Danielle Jaramillo, chief deputy district attorney of the family violence unit in Colorado's 23rd Judicial District, says it was the courage of Carrado's victims that put him behind bars.

"I was super relieved for these victims," Jaramillo said. "I felt like- they felt that their voices were really heard, so I was really, really relieved for them and for the community."

Jaramillo says when she went to trial in the case against Carrado, getting a conviction was important to her.

"The concern was that he would get right back out in the public, feel emboldened with what he did, felt like no one cared enough to convict him of that," she said. "I think (acquittals) really emboldened sex offenders to believe that what they did wasn't wrong, and that it's okay to continue to do things like that."

In 2022, Carrado was charged with four counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, four counts of unlawful sexual contact, and two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Police alleged that he assaulted teen athletes he was supposed to be training at his gym, "Strength in Christ," among other locations.

His now ex-wife says she found a phone with explicit messages between him and his young clients. She's the one who turned him in to law enforcement. Carrado then fled to Montana.

Jarmillo says the evidence Carrado's ex-wife provided helped bolster the case against him.

"We had DNA testing done, we had a lot of forensic analysis done on different phones that we received, both from the defendant as well as from the victim," she said.

But Jaramillo says she thinks it was the courage of his victims, who are now adults, that swayed the jury and led to Carrado's conviction: "They just did an incredible job on the witness stand."

Carrado is now facing 8 years to life in prison. He's 51 now, and Jaramillo says she would want a sentence that keeps him in jail for the rest of his life. Ultimately, however, his fate lies in the hands of a judge. Carrado will be sentenced on Nov. 13.