A Cherry Hill tennis coach is facing serious charges for allegedly engaging in inappropriate behavior with a 15-year-old girl under his instruction. Ovidiu V. Dragos, a 60-year-old resident of Moorestown, has been accused of harassing and stalking the teenage victim over a two-year period while coaching her at the Cherry Hill Health & Racquet Club.
The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office (CCPO) has charged Dragos with endangering the welfare of a child (second-degree), promoting obscene material to persons under 18 years old (third-degree), stalking (fourth-degree), and harassment. According to authorities, the incidents took place between October 2022 and January 2024 during private and group lessons at outdoor courts in Cherry Hill, Cinnaminson, and Moorestown.
The allegations include Dragos asking the victim about her romantic interests and subsequently showing her a nude photo of himself on his cell phone during a coaching session in January. Further claims state that Dragos took the victim into a separate room at the health and racquet club to show her the photo again.
In addition to these actions, Dragos is accused of leaving unwanted letters, cards, poems, and gifts in the victim’s belongings on multiple occasions. According to court documents, Dragos acknowledged the inappropriateness of his behavior in the letters to the victim.
Despite allegations of Dragos co-coaching boys and girls tennis for Moorestown High School, the school district administration denies any association with him. The Moorestown School District confirmed that Dragos never worked for them in any professional or volunteer capacity.
The Cherry Hill Health & Racquet Club has not provided comment on the matter at the time of initial publication.
Dragos was arrested in Moorestown and is currently in custody at the Camden County Correction Facility, awaiting a pretrial detention hearing. Authorities encourage anyone with information related to this investigation to contact the CCPO’s Special Victims Unit, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, the Cherry Hill Police Department, or the Moorestown Police Department.
