Former gymnastics coach pleads guilty to attacking women on Prairie Path

A 32-year-old Winfield man and former Bartlett gymnastics coach has pleaded guilty to attacking women on the Illinois Prairie Path near Wheaton.

Matthew Grover, of the 600 block of Lindsey Avenue, entered a blind guilty plea Wednesday to two counts of aggravated battery in a public place. He faces between two and five years in prison when he is sentenced at 10 a.m. on Jan. 26.

According to police, Grover confessed to approaching a woman from behind and grabbing her about 3:30 p.m. on April 24. The woman was walking on the path between County Farm Road and Pleasant Hill Road at the time. She escaped unharmed.

Officers investigating the attack said Grover matched the physical description the woman gave police. One of Grover's family members also owns the same 2006 blue Toyota Sienna minivan officials think Grover used to flee after the attack.

In an email sent to clients the day Grover was charged, the owners of Bartlett Gymnastics, where Grover had worked, said he was no longer employed there and had been banned from the premises.

Grover has been held on $200,000 bail since being charged on April 26.