Kyle Bradbury, former soccer coach in Dix Hills, charged with sending explicit messages to girl

A former soccer coach who trained youth soccer players on Long Island was arraigned Saturday on charges of sending a 13-year-old girl lewd messages on Snapchat.

Kyle J. Bradbury, 27, pleaded not guilty to two counts of use of a child less than 17 years of age in a sexual performance and criminal solicitation at First District Court in Central Islip. 

Suffolk County police said Bradbury, of Long Beach, met the 13-year-old at Dix Hills Soccer Club, with which he was once affiliated, and sent her sexually charged messages on April 29.

The girl’s mother called 911 on Monday to report the incident, which allegedly included requests for graphic photos.

A criminal complaint states there are screenshots of the Snapchat messages between the victim and Bradbury.

On Saturday, Judge Eric Sachs issued an order of protection for Bradbury to stay away from the child and warned him not to have any contact with her, either in person, by phone, electronically or through "anything that gets invented."

Sachs asked Bradbury whether he knew to whom the judge was referring, to which Bradbury responded, "Yes."

Bradbury's lawyer, Michaelangelo Matera, who did not represent him during the initial arraignment, told Newsday his client met the girl during a training session and is confident he will be vindicated.

"When the facts play out they will be much different than what's being portrayed currently," Matera said in a phone interview.

Bradbury was released Saturday afternoon with a GPS ankle monitor bracelet under supervision. He ignored questions from reporters outside the courthouse.

Bradbury's father is Tim Bradbury, the director of coaching at Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association, the official youth soccer association of the United States Soccer Federation.  Attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.

Kyle Bradbury was once an independent contractor with soccer training company Elite Level Soccer and worked with other soccer youth clubs beyond its own programs, according to the company.

In a statement, Elite Level Soccer said it was "deeply disturbed and saddened" by the allegations and said Bradbury was previously terminated for unrelated reasons. In the last few seasons he trained some travel players at Farmingdale Soccer Club and several years ago he trained players affiliated with Dix Hills Soccer Club.

Frank Gatto, the president of the Farmingdale Soccer Club, told parents in an email Saturday, which was obtained by Newsday, that the club was "shocked and disappointed" to learn of the charges. The club stressed Bradbury was not employed by them but came to Farmingdale through Elite Level Soccer. 

Martin Targett, the president of Dix Hills Soccer Club, told Newsday that Bradbury was never directly employed by the club. He said a player's father hired him to help train a team that later split from the club three years ago. "In 2021, the team left ... so there was zero affiliation with DHSC when the alleged incident took place," Targett said in a statement.

Suffolk County police arrested Bradbury on Friday evening.

Bradbury is due back in court on Aug. 27.

With Nicholas Grasso

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated Bradbury's current employment due to incorrect information from police.