Boxing instructor charged with sexual assault

SAN JOSE — A boxing instructor and registered sex offender has been charged with sexually assaulting two customers at his San Jose gym and trying to extort the employee by withholding pay unless she sent him nude photos, authorities say.

According to authorities, 42-year-old Tristan Arfi has been charged with sexual assault and extortion involving clients and an employee of the San Jose gym he runs. (California Department of Justice)

Tristan Georges Arfi, 42, of San Jose, was arrested Thursday and charged with seven counts of sexual assault, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.

Arfi was scheduled to be arraigned Friday in a San Jose courtroom. The call to the gym where he worked was transferred directly to voicemail, which did not accept new messages on Friday.

The charges are based in part on allegations made by two women who were clients of YBX Gym in downtown San Jose, where police and prosecutors say Arfi was the director of operations.

According to a joint investigation by the San Jose Police Department and the Bureau of Investigation with the district attorney’s office, the women reported that Arfi groped and fondled them “in a sexually inappropriate manner” after he offered them private massages.

Authorities also say Arfi tried to extort money from a woman working at the gym by refusing to pay her unless she agreed to send him nude photos of herself. He is also accused of forcing employees to sign confidentiality agreements barring them from speaking openly about what happened at the gym, which prosecutors say is not enforceable if they prevent signatories from reporting misconduct, including harassment, discrimination or criminal activity .

According to authorities and San Mateo County court records, in December 2019, Arfi pleaded no contest to a felony charge of lewd and lascivious acts with a child, 14 or 15, at a Menlo Park boxing gym. The conviction required him to register as a sex offender with the California Department of Justice.

Authorities are investigating whether there may be additional victims in this case. Anyone with information about the criminal charges can contact Investigator Christina Hanks at 408-792-2851 or by email at [email protected].