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Editor’s note: This story contains alleged accounts of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or at https://www.rainn.org.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was arrested Tuesday on an attempted murder charge after shooting at someone, and according to court documents obtained by The Denver Post, the individual was recently charged with molesting the star’s relative.
The bullet reportedly ended up wounding the defendant’s stepfather. Police initially did not reveal the circumstances of the incident at the time but said that one adult male was shot and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Velasquez’s relative, who is a minor, reported last week that they were molested by a man at a home daycare. The accused—43-year-old Harry Eugene Goularte—lives at the home where his mother runs a daycare center. According to the criminal complaint obtained by The Post, Goularte was charged with a “felony count of lewd and lascivious act with a child under the age of 14.”
The person accused of the crime was arraigned Friday and granted supervised release. Several days later, the MMA legend was said to have fired at a car that included Goularte, the stepfather and at least one other individual.
“The motive and circumstances surrounding this incident are still under investigation at this time,” police said in a tweet.
Velasquez is a two-time UFC heavyweight champion, the first person of Mexican heritage to earn two title belts. The 39-year-old retired from MMA in October 2019 following a 26-second knockout loss to current heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
He went on to launch his professional wrestling career, making his way to WWE. However, he was released from his WWE contract in April 2020 due to budget cuts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
