An athletics coach who sexually abused young girls over a period of 35 years was first reported to police in 2000, the Telegraaf reports.

Jerry M., from Rotterdam, had sex with nine girls aged between 11 and 18 at three athletics clubs, a disciplinary investigation by the sport’s governing body Atletiekunie has found. At least two of his victims became pregnant as a result.

M. was never prosecuted because none of his victims filed formal police complaints. The Telegraaf said on Monday that one woman reported an incident in 2000 and was interviewed by the sexual offences division for two hours, but decided not to make a formal complaint.

She told the newspaper: ‘I was on my own, you know. If another report came in, I would have made a complaint. But unfortunately the police have lost my report.’

The Atletiekunie has been criticised for not following up earlier indications that M. was abusing girls. In 2009 it received a report of inappropriate behaviour by M. at CAV Energie in Barendrecht. The club dismissed him from its training staff but the union did not investigate further.

The Atletiekunie began an investigation and banned M. from coaching in 2017 after a 21-year-old athlete reported that he had touched her in the groin area.

The public prosecution service is checking whether it received other reports of his behaviour between 1983 and 2017. M. has also been suspended from his job as a bus driver with RET.