[4][5][6] He was a three-time NCAA All American for Columbia University, four-time All-Ivy League, and the first fencer to win four consecutive Intercollegiate Fencing Association championships.
In October 2021 he was arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and false swearing, and imprisoned in the Somerset County Jail in Somerville, New Jersey.
[13] In August 2009, Kovacs was named the head men's fencing coach at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
[23] In 2018, Kovacs founded and thereafter owned Kaprica United Fencing Academy in Bound Brook, in Somerset County, New Jersey, where he was head coach.
[24][30] A number of fencers on the school team attended the nearby Kaprica Fencing Academy, which Kovacs owned and where he was head coach.
[28] On October 13, 2021, Kovacs was arrested at the Somerset County (New Jersey) Prosecutor’s Office by detectives from the Bridgewater Township Sex Crimes/Child Abuse Unit for allegedly sexually assaulting two teenagers.
[33][1] An affidavit of probable cause filed by police in support of charges against Kovacs said that he first preyed on teens while on long-distance trips with them for competitions.
[14] The affidavit said that Kovacs assaulted the 16-year-old in May 2019, at a competition in Salt Lake City, Utah that due to its distance from New Jersey required an overnight stay.
"[14] In addition, a 19-year-old female teenager reported being sexually assaulted by Kovacs in Bridgewater multiple times from January to December 2020, when she was 18 years old.
[1][35] He was charged with felony fourth degree false swearing, and incarcerated once again in the Somerset County Jail, pending a detention hearing.
[1][2][3] As early as September 2021, Kovacs had reported himself to the United States Center for SafeSport, informing them that he had an inappropriate relationship with a minor.
[36][37][38] Its primary responsibility is to review allegations of sexual misconduct, and to impose sanctions—up to banning a person for their lifetime from involvement in all Olympic sports.
[12] In January 2024, the children filed suit in Somerset County Superior Court, alleging the jail was negligent in not following its suicide prevention policy.