Soccer Center Builder Has Molestation Record Adult And Youth Teams Will Compete At Valley Complex

An Oregon man building a Spokane Valley indoor soccer center where adult and youth teams will compete is a convicted child molester.

Willi Aigner pleaded no contest in 1992 to sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy.

Aigner, a former Portland-area high school soccer coach, has purchased several acres of undeveloped land near Nora Avenue and Vista Road and expects to open the Spokane Soccer Center by October.

In an interview, Aigner said he doesn’t intend to work at the center or live in Spokane.

For the past nine years, he has owned and managed an indoor soccer center in Clackamas County outside Portland. Once the Valley center opens, Aigner said he’ll leave it in the hands of a local manager and return to Clackamas.

The 52-year-old Aigner continues to protest his innocence in the Oregon molestation case.

“Those were false accusations against me by a kid who fabricated the whole story,” he said.

His attorney urged him to plead no contest to two misdemeanor counts of third-degree sexual abuse rather than risk going to trial, he said.

The boy told police he was forced into having sex with Aigner at least three times during 1992.

Aigner was originally charged with 11 sex crimes involving the same youth, whom police described as mildly developmentally disabled. Among those charges were two felony counts of sodomy.

He served 180 days in Multnomah County Jail and last December completed five years of probation without serious violations, Corrections officials said.

“I’ve kept my business going successfully for five years since those problems,” Aigner said. “I have to think some competitor here has brought this up to cause me trouble.”

Aigner’s legal history may have little impact on the success of the indoor center, say Spokane-area soccer supporters.

Local soccer teams are looking forward to another indoor facility in order to keep competing year-round, said Dave Barlos.

“Indoor soccer, especially in the winter, has become a big deal,” said Barlos, president of the Spokane Valley Junior Soccer Association.

Barlos said parents and adult players will have to decide for themselves whether or not they’ll use Aigner’s center.

“I’m sure it will raise some concerns among parents,” he said, “but it’s up to each parent to decide what’s right. As for myself, if he registers or does what he had to do, that’s enough for me.”

Aigner isn’t required to register as a sex offender in Washington, but that may change when a new law takes effect next week.

Out-of-state sex offenders visiting, conducting business or attending school in Washington currently don’t have to register.

But state lawmakers broadened registration requirements to keep track of offenders moving into Washington who claim a permanent address in another state.

Aigner said he’ll spend “about half my time in Oregon and half up there” over the next several months until the center opens.

It’s uncertain whether he’ll have to register. In Washington, there is no charge of sex abuse in the third degree - sexual contact with another person without their consent.

The closest equivalents are third-degree child molestation and second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor. Both require sex-offender registration in this state.

Spokane County prosecutors say they’ll need to research Aigner’s convictions and Oregon’s statutes before deciding if he must register.

Corrections officials in Oregon say Aigner didn’t meet the victim through his soccer business. The boy was the son of a couple who befriended Aigner and allowed him to spend time in their home while he was apartment-hunting.

During probation, he satisfactorily completed a sex offender therapy program, officials said.

Aigner was allowed to continue running the Oregon Soccer Center, provided he stayed inside the office during business hours and was never alone with children.

He installed a video camera in the soccer center to help document where he was spending his time, said Maggie Miller of the Oregon Corrections Department.

“There were calls from parents right after his case made the papers,” said Miller, who was Aigner’s first probation officer.

“A lot of residents and parents were aware of who he was and let us know they were concerned about him,” she said.

SOCCER CENTER The Spokane Soccer Center would be located on several acres of land near Nora Avenue and Vista Road. Aigner expects to open the center by October.