Investigation into camera under way

CHAMPAIGN — An associate head gymnastics coach at the University of Illinois resigned. Meanwhile, UI police are investigating a camera found in a locker room.
Illini sports information director Kent Brown said Jon Valdez resigned for personal reasons and declined further comment. He said the school was referring all other questions to the UI police department.
Lt. Roy Acree said police found a camera in a locker room on campus Sept. 25. He declined to answer any further questions about the circumstances or investigation, including who found the camera or how. He also had no comment on whether Valdez's resignation and the camera investigation are connected.
Acree said investigators have interviewed several witnesses.
"We've still got a few more things to do," Acree said. "Hopefully, we'll be done by the end of the week. When the reports are completed, we'll be sending them to the state's attorney's office for charging consideration."

On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that  Waukesha (Wis.) County court records indicate that Valdez was charged with operating while under the influence after his Sept. 18 arrest. He's pleaded not guilty.

On April 25, the UI announced that Valdez had been promoted from assistant coach and would succeed Yoshi Hayasaki as head coach when Hayasaki retired following the 2008-09 season. The Illini assistant was in his ninth year on Hayasaki's staff when he resigned.
Valdez also serves as the personal coach for 2008 Olympian Justin Spring, a former Illini NCAA champion and fellow UI assistant.
Brown said the UI has begun a search for a assistant coach to replace Valdez for this season. Spring, the second assistant on Hayasaki's staff,
is in the midst of a tour with other U.S. Olympic gymnasts and currently unavailable for his UI coaching duties. The 38-city Tour of Gymnastics Superstars runs through Nov. 16, including a Nov. 5 appearance at the UI Assembly Hall.
A native of College Station, Texas, Valdez joined the UI staff in 2000 after 15 years in gymnastics club coaching. He was widely regarded as a key contributor to Illini teams that placed third or higher in four of the last five NCAA Championships. In 2004, Valdez was named National Assistant Coach of the Year by the College Gymnastics Association.
Valdez also has an extensive coaching background with USA Gymnastics, the national governing body of the sport. In 2007, he served as assistant coach for a U.S. Pan American Games team that earned a bonze medal. He also has coached 2000 Olympian Sean Townsend and several U.S. Junior National Team athletes.