NJ celebrity trainer found dead after a dad uncovers child molestation

🔴 Boxer Darren "Venom" Goodall has trained cast members of the "Housewives of New Jersey"

🔴 Goodall owned a gym in Sarasota County, Florida

🔴 A father found sexual pictures on his child's cell phone with Goodall

A New Jersey boxer, gym owner and trainer who once trained some of the cast of "Housewives of New Jersey" took his own life as police were about to "make contact" during an investigation into allegations of sexual activity with a minor.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said the father of a 14-year-old reported finding video and photos of "inappropriate sexual activity" of his child with Jersey City native Lance Darren "Venom" Goodall Jr. on his child's phone. The child was a Jiu-Jitsu student of Goodall's at his Osprey, Florida gym.

Detectives determined they had probable cause to charge Goodall with three counts of sexual battery by a person in a position of custodial authority.

Investigators from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office who went to Goodall's home found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

According to the warrant in the case, the relationship began in August 2022. Goodall and the teen had oral sex on numerous occasions and asked the teen to "have his back" by not telling anyone about them. Goodall was fearful of losing custody of his son if anyone found out and would commit suicide if he ever got caught, investigators said.

He sent the teen a picture of a gun and said he owned six. Goodall told the teen he would rather be dead than see his face all over, investigators said in the warrant.

Thank you's from the 'Housewives'

Goodall told The Times of Israel in a 2021 interview that he opened Venom Fitness in Wyckoff in 2015 when he was 23 but it closed in 2020. He said he had trained Danielle Staub, Lauren Manzo, and Ashlee Malleo from the "Real Housewives of New Jersey."

Staub wrote about Goodall in a blog on the Bravo website in 2010. She called Goodall her personal trainer and gave him a "special thank you" after working together for seven months. Malleo, the daughter of the show's Jacqueline Laurita, said she trained virtually with Goodall for a 20-pound weight loss in 2020.

"He holds me accountable DAILY. I’m definitely never hungry, but almost always sore," she wrote.

A viewing is planned for the Vander Plaat Colonial Home in Fair Lawn Friday from 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. with a funeral Saturday at 1 p.m.

Report child sexual abuse to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's CyberTipline: 800-843-5678

If you feel you or someone you know may be in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, 1-800-273-TALK, or the NJ Hopeline, 1-855-654-6735

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