‘I feel betrayed:’ Carson City Pop Warner parents furious sex offender regularly allowed at practices, trips

Several Carson City Pop Warner parents and former coaches are calling for the resignation of a cheer coach — and the board president — after the sex offender status of the coach’s husband was revealed, and parents learned the board was well aware but chose not to alert parents.

At the age of 29, Gabriel “Gabe” Adam Miles was convicted of statutory sexual seduction of a 14-year-old girl in Douglas County in 2014. Miles admitted to having sex with the child on three occasions, and took a plea deal to have other charges dismissed, according to the Record Courier. He did not serve prison time, but instead, was offered probation.

According to Austin Matthews, President of Carson City Pop Warner, Miles is not officially affiliated with Pop Warner. He is the husband of one of the cheer coaches, and the father of Pop Warner children, and has been involved with the organization for the past 8 years, Matthews said.

“He is not a coach, he does not wear the CCPW logo,” Matthews said.

However, Matthews said, Miles does attend practices and a CCPW Facebook post revealed Miles had traveled with the cheer team for a Las Vegas competition as recently as January.

According to several other Pop Warner coaches and parents, Miles also volunteered for many years in the snack bar, and regularly attends Pop Warner meetings with his wife. Matthews denies that Miles ever officially volunteered with the organization.

While some parents hoped the Pop Warner board simply did not know of Miles’s offender status, that is not the case – according to both former coaches and Matthews himself.

“He is honest about it,” Matthews said. “This was an unfortunate moment in his life that ruined his life and another family’s.”

Matthews said that there is misinformation regarding the charges being spread on social media.

“Some of the things people are saying are r*tarded,” Matthews said. “For one, it was a 14-year-old, not a 12-year-old, not a 13-year-old. These were two consenting individuals, and the parents filed charges because the age difference was outside the law.”

In Nevada, and throughout the country, a 14-year-old cannot legally consent to any sexual activity with an adult because they are, by law, children.

According to a Record Courier article written at the time of sentencing, the mother of the child asked for at least three years in prison, and said that her daughter had become closed off, and that her school life and her relationship with friends had been harmed. The article also stated that Miles was living with the family at the time of the abuse, and Matthews admitted Miles had been close friends with the parents of the child.

Failure to Act

Matthews said there was “nothing he can do” and he cannot stop any person, including a registered sex offender, from attending practices, games and events.

However, by both Pop Warner policy as well as Carson City Parks and Recreation policy, this is simply not the case.

When Miles’s sex offender status was first revealed to the CCPW board in 2020, several board meetings were held to discuss the situation, according to individuals who were present. Matthews denies that any board meeting has ever been held regarding Miles’s status.

At that time, the Carson City District Attorney’s Office was contacted, and it was revealed that, since CCPW rents the fields they use during the season from Carson City, it is considered a “private event” and CCPW has full authority on who they allow or disallow on the premises for any reason.

Matthews also said that because Miles has never “officially” been affiliated with Pop Warner, a background check has never been necessary.

According to Pop Warner’s own policies, background checks are required each year for “any persons … who provide regular service to the league and-or have repetitive access to, or contact with, players and-or spirit participants.”

Regional Sagebrush League Pop Warner President Gary Archie has chosen not to respond regarding clarification on whether or not this would apply to individuals traveling with the team or regularly attending games and practices.

This is also not the first time Pop Warner has barred or removed offenders from participating.

A former CCPW member told Carson Now that a cheer coach was dismissed after it was determined her husband was a registered sex offender as well. However, his charges were against another adult – not a child.

Matthews also said that just recently a father was attending games who had abused children and Matthews and another member took action personally.

“We made it so uncomfortable for him, made it so hard for him to be there,” Matthews said. “So he removed himself from the situation.”

When asked why the same tactic was not used against Miles when his offender status was revealed, Matthews said there was a difference.

“Do I think he’s a child molester? Because that’s what’s on paper? Do I think he’s a predator? No, I don’t believe that. I believe he made a mistake,” Matthews said.

Matthews said he looked into the situation himself.

“I went and read the case. His story wasn’t one of those that like, made you cringe or automatically want to be physical with him. … There has got to be a human aspect to this. He’s not even close to being a threat.”

Later, when asked what he meant by “read the case” and if he had access to the actual court case file, Matthews said that he will “no longer be answering any questions.”

Matthews said he believes the only reason people are discussing this is for vindictive purposes, because they are angry about not receiving the “team level” they wanted or they’ve been removed as coaches.

Matthews said that 99 percent of the Pop Warner parents are in support of Miles’s presence.

At the time of publication, no board member, coach, or parent other than Matthews has come forward to voice their support of the decision to allow either one of the Miles’s to continue associating with CCPW.

Reactions

Becky Hall, who recently signed her daughter up for CCPW Cheer after moving to Carson City, said she was caught completely off guard by the news, which was first revealed on social media.

“I feel completely betrayed,” Hall said. “You feel trust towards coaches in organized sports, you trust they have background checks, and have your children in their best interest. You trust the protection is there.”

Matthews said that Pop Warner checks the background of coaches thoroughly, but because Miles is not a coach, there was “zero he could do.”

While the Pop Warner board held a board meeting on Friday, it was not to discuss Miles’s sex offender status but rather, the discussion happening on social media, according to Matthews.

“This was a post started by a disgruntled person who left Pop Warner, and we’re better off without them,” Matthews said. “You need to ask why they posted this.”

However, according to the parents Carson Now spoke with, they were grateful for the information to come out through the anonymous Facebook post.

“I would have had no idea,” Hall said. “Whoever posted it, they did the right thing. It’s not just cheer - it goes for everyone. We have to stay together as a community to protect our children.”

Matthews said that Pop Warner never holds outfit fittings or practices at coaches' houses. However, according to former cheer coach Kaeli Biggin, while she was coaching she knew of a "handful" of teams that did fittings at the homes of coaches. She said while she was not sure it was officially allowed, it "definitely happens."

What many parents were extremely upset to find out, however, was that Miles had attended the Las Vegas trip in January with the girls.

Biggin said that two years ago when she coached, they held closed practices specifically due to Miles’s presence. Matthews denied this ever occurred.

“The head coach and another assistant went to the board with (information of Miles's sex offender status) and they did nothing,” Biggin said. “Austin, the president, keeps saying it was ‘consensual’ because she said yes, even though she was fourteen.”

Prior to the season Biggin worked, she said coaches had tried several seasons before to have Miles evicted, but were met with resistance from the board. Matthews also denies this took place.

"Some of the cheer coaches had gone to the board with the information a couple seasons before I had even started," Biggin said. "As soon as they learned (about Miles), they tried to take action. The practices were closed for a couple teams due to them being uncomfortable with no action from the board, and wanting to keep the girls as safe as possible."

Matthews told Carson Now that no parent has asked to withdraw at this time. However, he later said that he was asked to provide refunds, but those parents changed their minds after speaking to Matthews.

Carson Now has spoken to multiple parents who are requesting refunds and will be un-enrolling their children.

The parents, former coaches and board members who wished not to be named did so because they said they feared Matthews would take legal action against them, as he has threatened to do so multiple times, according to them.

Matthews also threatened Carson Now several times with legal action if this article was published.

When asked why he would rather keep the Miles involved rather than listen to the parents' calls for their expulsion, Matthews said he “does not care.”

“Oh, I don’t care what the parents want on this,” Matthews said. “Like it’s a concern, and I get that. The only thing I can tell them is: don’t sign your child up – it sucks for the child, because it’s a completely safe place. But if you’re concerned, then don’t sign up.”

Matthews said he encouraged any parents who have concerns to contact him directly so he can explain why they do not need to be worried, and why Miles is not considered a threat to their children.

You can contact Matthews by visiting the pop warner website here: https://carsoncitypopwarner.org/board-members/

Check back for part two of this story.