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S. Fla. Track Coach Accused Of Molesting Student

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – A former South Florida high school track coach accused of molesting one of his students has posted $30,000 bond, though he remains in a Broward County jail.

Matthew Love, 42, was in bond court Thursday morning where a judge set bond and added several important restrictions to his release.

The judge said Love must wear a GPS ankle-monitoring device, he is not allowed to go near University School in Davie where he formerly coached and he is not allowed to have contact with his alleged victim.

Love was arrested on August 8th.

He is charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child between 12 to 16 years old.

According to the police complaint affidavit, Love pulled one of his female track students out of PE class two times in 2011 order to attend "rehab" sessions for an injured hamstring. During these "rehab" sessions, the student claimed Love would touch her chest "inappropriately" during stretching exercises. The third incident, the report states, took place during a stretching exercise prior to a track meet.

Police launched an investigation into Love once the girl told a school administrator.

"A young girl came forward and indicated to us her track and field coach had touched her inappropriately," said Capt. Dale Engle of the Davie Police Department."She had suffered a hamstring injury and he would get her out of class early. During stretching exercises Mr. Love touched her inappropriately. We made numerous attempts to contact Mr. Love about these allegation with negative results."

Until this week, Love was employed on a contractual basis with the Chamber Fitness Center in Davie started by former Dolphins wide receiver Chris Chambers.

They issued a printed statement which read:

We recently learned of the allegations against and arrest of Matthew Love, one of the many individuals advising us on the training programs we are implementing at our new facility. He is no longer connected to our efforts in any way. We value the connections we have already made with families in the community and will never let anyone or anything compromise those relationships.

Love told a judge he has an attorney who is currently out of the country.

He intends to plead not guilty to the charges.

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