Ice skating coach charged with sexually assaulting 14-year-old student

A coach who worked with the Eden Prairie Figure Skating Club was charged Thursday in Hennepin County District Court with sexually assaulting one of his students beginning when she was 14.

Thomas Joseph Incantalupo, 47, of St. Louis Park, began abusing the girl in August 2015 and continued until September of last year, according to the criminal complaint. He is being held at the Hennepin County jail on five charges of criminal sexual conduct.

"As a father and a former coach of young women, this conduct, if proven in court, deserves the severest penalty possible," said Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

Incantalupo has been coaching since 1990, is a master-rated freeskate coach and was a coach for Team USA in 2008 and 2010, according to a now-deleted page on the Eden Prairie Figure Skating Club website. His bio states he also did performances on NBC, CBS and MTV, and was an "Honor Roll" coach with the Professional Skaters Association in 2008, 2010 and 2016. According to Incantalupo's Facebook page, he had been with the Eden Prairie club since 2016.

The city released a statement Thursday night saying that the club is not a city-run organization and that Incantalupo is not a city employee.

In 2008, the Star Tribune wrote about Incantalupo when he was a coach at the St. Paul Figure Skating Club. Before that, he was a coach in Des Moines, where he trained a skater who made it to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

According to the complaint:

Incantalupo became the girl's coach when she was 9. The girl got good enough to become a competitive figure skater, traveling to national and international events. When she traveled, Incantalupo would often go alone with her and be responsible for her care.

During a trip to Connecticut in August 2015, Incantalupo began abusing his student when she was sleeping at the home of another coach. The girl said she tried to pretend she was asleep so that he would stop, but instead Incantalupo forced the girl to have oral sex. The coach told his student not to tell anyone.

Incantalupo assaulted the girl at least 40 more times until January of this year, when the now-16-year-old girl told a friend about the abuse. The girl's parents learned about the assaults and called police.

Investigators set up a meeting at the Eden Prairie rink Tuesday and recorded a conversation between the girl and Incantalupo. The coach told the girl she was "the love of his life." He told her that he knew the relationship was wrong, and that he could go to jail. Police then arrested Incantalupo.

Brandon Stahl • 612-673-4626