Eden Prairie wrestling coach charged with sexual assault

An Eden Prairie wrestling coach has been charged with sexually assaulting a young girl he coached, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday.

Mustafa Shabazz, 43, was charged by summon on April 28 with a single count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance June 1.

According to the criminal complaint, police in Shakopee and Eden Prairie began investigating Shabazz in February. The Hennepin County victim was nine when she began wrestling with Shabazz as her coach in early 2018 in Eden Prairie. By spring of 2019, after recovering from an injury, the girl refused to return to wrestling. Several months later, she told a friend and then her parents that Shabazz had touched her inappropriately.

The girl told investigators that Shabazz would touch her genitals over her clothes while demonstrating wrestling moves. He told her it was an accident but it kept happening over the months she was there, the complaint states.

Last summer, another adolescent girl reported that Shabazz would give her, tight hugs and caress her back while they were at wrestling tournaments around the state. Those actions made her uncomfortable. Eventually, an administrator of the wrestling program questioned Shabazz about the girl’s allegation and Shabazz resigned. The girl later told investigators that Shabazz also touched her genitals over her clothing, according to the complaint. None of the behavior with this victim occurred in Hennepin County.

Shabazz was 32 years older than the first victim. Prosecutors will seek an aggravated sentence against Shabazz, if he is found guilty, because he held a position of authority over the girl.

Mustafa Shabazz Criminal Complaint (PDF)