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I was raped by my gymnastics coach; 'We were trained to say nothing bothered us'
By ESPN.COM NEWS SERVICES via ESPN Dec 15, 2016, 2:41 PM ET

The following was told to espnW by a former gymnast whose coach was found guilty of rape of a child and indecent assault and battery on a person over 14. She felt compelled to share her ordeal after recent reports that USA Gymnastics has repeatedly failed to report abuse cases?in the hopes that her story, when added to the voices of other young women, can help to enact change.?

To prevent retaliation or harassment, we are not identifying her or the coach involved.

It had been three years since we started having sex when the man who would later be convicted of raping me took me to an abortion clinic. He had scheduled the appointment for after my 18th birthday so that I wouldn't need a parent to sign their permission for the procedure.

We went to a clinic that was an hour from where he lived and he dropped me off at the corner because he didn't want to be seen. I went in by myself, and I sat there in this room full of scared young women, all of whom had someone to support them except for me.

I was taken into the back room. I remember lying down on the table and then waking up on the table. But I was in a total daze. They wheeled me out into the waiting room and I said, "I'm ready to go." And when they asked whether someone was there to pick me up, I said, "I'm sure he's waiting outside."

And there he was, waiting in his car. He took me to a restaurant, and I ate two bites of food, then ran to the restroom and vomited violently. We went back to his house and he had to go coach gymnastics, so he left me there. And I remember thinking, "What the f---? Why am I doing this? Why isn't somebody taking care of me right now?"

I had my follow-up appointment scheduled for a week later, and during recovery you're not supposed to have sex. But the night before I was supposed to go, he forced me to have sex with him because he "just couldn't wait that long."

I thought, "What am I doing with this guy?" This wasn't a real relationship.


You'd think that any interactions with a child predator would be scary, but my first moments with that coach?didn't scare me one bit. I was a gymnast, and he came up from Connecticut for a meet with our gym in Massachusetts, and then all of the gymnasts and coaches went to an amusement park together.

I was 13 years old, and I remember thinking he was very handsome and exuberant and had this larger-than-life personality. He was 33, and everybody wanted to be around him. He was one of those people who made you think, "I would like him to notice me."

On that first day, we were all standing in line for a roller coaster, singing the Billy Joel song "Captain Jack." He came up to us, a bunch of 13-year-olds, and was like, "You know what that song is about, right?" And we said, "It's about a captain! Captain Jack?" And he said, "No, that song is about masturbation."

And I don't know if I'd even heard someone say that word out loud before -- and obviously never a gymnastics coach. Looking back, it was this icebreaker. He threw this word out there, and all of a sudden we went from being coaches and athletes to having an adult conversation. And every teenager wants that, right?

At the end of the day he gave me a jacket from his gym, and I was the only person he gave one to, so I thought, "This is somebody who is so interesting and everyone wants to be around him, and yet he's paying attention to me."


I can trace everything back to that day. I wasn't the best gymnast in the gym, so his attention was a way for me to stand out. This amazing coach has noticed me. From that day onward, I was excited to see him, and we'd see each other fairly often at gymnastics meets and at a summer camp.

For two or three weeks in July, he and two other coaches would run a gymnastics camp. It was usually held on a college campus, and we'd train during the day, stay in dorm rooms at night and do some normal summer camp things when we weren't in the gym, such as campfires and talent shows.

But it was far from a wholesome camp experience, at least for me. Once you became a junior counselor around age 14, you were a part of the staff, and although you still trained during the day, you were allowed to hang out with the coaches at night, drinking and playing games that included things like strip poker and group showers. And that sexual environment often carried over to the daytime workouts.

Once, I finished a tumbling pass at camp and was walking past the coach when he turned to another coach and said, in front of me, "It's taking all of my willpower not to go after that one." I was 14 years old, walking past him in a leotard.

It didn't matter to me that this older coach shouldn't be making those comments. From my perspective, it was just nice to be noticed. This gymnastics camp was billed by our coaches as something special -- you're part of it, and it's a family. Whatever happens here stays here. And if people didn't subscribe to this and stopped coming to the camp, they would be shunned. God, you didn't want to be outside the circle.

As gymnasts, we were conditioned to show how tough we could be, how little emotion we could show. We were trained to say that nothing bothered us and not show any sign of fear or pain.

It all clouded my ability to see that what was happening with this coach was wrong.

The first time he kissed me was in a moving truck. I was 14. He was driving. It was at the end of camp, and we were bringing mats back to one of the gyms. I remember he asked me to come sit on his lap -- while the truck was speeding down the highway. My heart was racing, knowing that something was going to happen. I was completely inexperienced with boys at that point, and then all of a sudden my coach was French-kissing me.

Not long after, we were alone, and he had me put my hand down his pants and touch his penis. I knew this was not normal, and afterward I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't talk to anybody the next day. Now when I look back, I can see clearly that it was a violation -- that I had trusted this person, and he went way too far. At the time, I thought I was ready for something like this. But when this very adult thing happened, I wasn't ready at all.

We talked later about it on the phone, and he said, "Maybe you can't handle this. Maybe you aren't as mature as I thought you were." He was challenging me. I was supposed to rise to it, not shy away from it. So I said, "No, no, I can handle this. I do want to be with you." And I actually thought we were in a consensual relationship.

He would say, "You can't tell anyone. I could go to jail. What we have is special; no one will understand." That never triggered in my mind that something was wrong. I wanted to think that we did have something special, and I never told anyone.

He continued to pursue me. We had intercourse when I was 15. It wasn't pleasant -- it was painful. But I remember walking away and feeling proud of myself, like I got through it. It was like in gymnastics, when you do that move that you're so scared to do.

The thing I was most scared of was getting caught, because I thought I was going to get in trouble. I thought I was the one doing something wrong.


The turning point for me wasn't that abortion at age 18. It was about two years after that, when I was hanging out with a couple of the gymnasts he coached, and I heard about a woman he was dating. I thought that he was cheating on me, so I went back to his house, where I'd been staying, and started searching for evidence.

I found a letter one of his former athletes wrote to him, talking about how he manipulated her into having sex with him when she was 15. She said she remembered the first time he entered her and how she cried, and how he would bribe her with gifts and money not to tell anyone, that she would sneak out of her house to meet with him.

I didn't understand. It felt like I was reading about myself. I started to realize that I wasn't special -- he had done the same thing in the past. He was a predator. I couldn't believe there was another "me" out there.

I confronted him about it, but he somehow twisted it around so that I was in the wrong for snooping in his house. He raged at me, and I was scared of his anger. I came away feeling guilty -- that I had done something wrong. And I wanted to believe that I was wrong about what I'd found. So I didn't walk away, but I was very suspicious from that point forward, and finding that letter was the best thing that could have happened to me. It shifted my path forever.

A few months later, he called me and told me that three women -- in addition to the woman who had written that letter -- had accused him of sexual abuse and that there would be an article coming out in the newspaper. He said he felt horrible that he'd ruined so many people's lives. It was the one moment when he displayed any sense of wrongdoing. Later, he would fight tooth and nail against the allegations. He said the girls were all older than 16, the age of consent, and that yes, he had relationships with them, but considered it dating because he'd been only 25 at the time.

I often wonder why I stuck by him as I watched the investigation go on. But I never felt a draw to stand beside these other women. There was a part of me that still wanted to hang on to this idea that his relationship with me was different.

The accusations from those four women didn't lead to any criminal charges because they couldn't prove the girls had been under 16. But he was banned from USA Gymnastics in 1998. He could no longer be a member. He made a big deal out of it at the time, but I remember thinking that it didn't seem to have any impact on his life. Maybe parents didn't fully understand what had happened because he tried to garner a lot of sympathy, claiming it was all untrue and unfair. Only a few parents took their gymnasts out of his gym, and he competed with his team under different organizations instead of USA Gymnastics. He still was a director at the camp, and it seemed as if other coaches stood by him.

When I look back at this, it makes me feel very frustrated by USA Gymnastics. I often think that I could have been saved if its policies were different. It all comes from the leadership down, and unless the leadership stands up and says, "We are not going to tolerate this," nothing will change*. It needs to say, "Anyone who crosses a toe over the line we're drawing here is going to be out. You will be banned. We'll talk to our sister organizations, and you won't be able to find a loophole and have access to kids. You can't run a gymnastics camp."


I moved across the country shortly after he was banned to pursue a graduate degree and because I knew I needed to get away from him.

After moving, I was talking to a fellow grad student who asked, "So what was your longest relationship?" I told him seven years, and he couldn't believe it. I told him it started when I was 14, and it was with someone 20 years older than me. It was the first time I'd said any of this out loud.

And this guy just looked at me and says, "You know that's illegal, right?" I felt like I had broken through into another universe, where there were clear lines and boundaries. I didn't have any of that in gymnastics. And I thought, "Holy s---, what happened to me was wrong."

I didn't want to bring him down, though. I just didn't want to be a part of it anymore. So I tried to reclaim my life far away from New England. But my part in it wasn't over.

A close friend was training to be a therapist, and one day, in 2006, she talked to her own therapist about the way our gymnastics coaches had treated us. She also told her what had happened to me. And her therapist said, "Thank you for sharing that with me. I'm required by law to report this." It was just like that.

The therapist told my friend that we could report it ourselves if we wanted to, or she would do it. I felt like my entire perspective shifted again. Even though I knew that it had been illegal, I still thought of the relationship as mostly consensual. I'd never thought that what happened to me was a crime that needed to be reported right away, and for the first time I realized this could be happening to other girls, right then. I knew I had to report it.


The process of going to trial would deter anybody from reporting sexual abuse. The district attorney warned me that it would feel like I was the one on trial. I didn't know what that meant when he said it, but I lived it. Everything that you do is under scrutiny. Your character is questioned. People blog about you and call you a liar and say this is unrequited love or you're just doing this to get attention.

Throughout the three weeks of trial in 2010, the defense attorney would say things like, "Are you sure you didn't lie in your journal?" Or, "Weren't you a very mature 14-year-old?" It was degrading and infuriating, and then we finally got to the end, and the prosecution team told me I needed to be prepared that the jury might come back with a not-guilty verdict.

My heart was pounding when they read the verdicts, and I just froze when they said guilty on every count: rape of a child (three counts) and indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 (two counts). In the elevator as I left the courthouse, I collapsed and cried hysterically. I am so grateful for that jury.

During the trial, many people had come forward with stories of abuse from the same man. I met the woman who had sent the letter that I had found in his house -- the letter that had changed my life. I remember this amazing sense of community, that all of these women whom I'd never met before could tell the same story about their childhood as I could. There was so much positive energy in such a negative situation. We had been an army of women, and the pain we'd suffered as kids was validated by that verdict.


I've had people tell me how strong I was to go to court and take this guy down. I know it's meant as a compliment, and I try to hold on to that. But if I could go back and have none of this happen to me, I would do that in a second.

When I look back on my childhood, I wonder who I would be without this experience. I still have nightmares that coaches are coming after me, looking for revenge. I'm scared of when he gets out of jail. It's something that will always be with me, and I know I can never get those years of my life back.

Some of the best people in my life have constantly reminded me that we are not our experiences -- that, as the quote says, we can take the lesson but leave the situation. And I do take this: We brought a group of women together who were so scared and alone, ashamed and hurt, and we created a community of survivors. And we made sure that this man could never hurt another girl.

* In a statement to espnW, USA Gymnastics said?it received a complaint about the coach in 1997 from adults who had previously been athletes in USAG. The organization hired a retired FBI agent, who investigated the complaint and spoke with local authorities. The investigation resulted in the termination of the coach's professional membership, public notice of that termination and a lifetime ban on his participation in sanctioned competitions and other events. None of the existing USAG staff was with the organization at the time the original complaint was filed.

"It is heartbreaking and unacceptable for a young person to have the intolerable burden that results from being a victim of sexual misconduct," USAG chief executive officer Steve Penny said in the statement. "We share the outrage that sexual assault victims and their families feel. This is why USA Gymnastics has implemented SafeSport training?and created educational materials that encourage members to contact law enforcement first when reporting incidents of abuse."
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/raped-gymn ... d=44218997

Report: At least 368 youth gymnasts abused over last 20 years

Jay BusbeeFourth-Place MedalDec 15, 2016, 1:02 PM

A far-reaching Indianapolis Star report indicates that at least 368 youth gymnasts have been abused while in gymnastics programs over the last 20 years, with 115 adults accused of abuse in locations all over the country.

The hard numbers are a follow-up to an August IndyStar report entitled “Out of Balance,” which charged that USA Gymnastics protected coaches over potentially abused gymnasts. This new report, the culmination of thousands of documents from multiple states, puts numbers to the charges.

“USA Gymnastics is proud of the work it has done to address and guard against child sexual abuse,” the organization said in a statement to the IndyStar. However, the organization has also declined to make its leaders available for interviews, and according to the Star has continued to delay the release of documents related to abuse of gymnasts despite court orders to do so.

Team USA’s recent run of gold-medal success at the Olympics notwithstanding, many involved in the world of gymnastics want USA Gymnastics to do more to help combat abuse, both punishing abusers and protecting potentially vulnerable gymnasts. “It saddens me because I love our sport,” Molly Shawen-Kollmann, a former member of the U.S. national team and now a coach, told the IndyStar. “This is not indicative of who we want to be. As an organization, they aren’t doing their job.”

The sport of gymnastics is particularly vulnerable not only to abuse, given how frequently coaches are in close contact with athletes, but also to cover-ups. Since judgment of gymnasts is so subjective at every level, many observers indicate that there’s an unspoken pressure to go along and get along, not to make waves or accusations that disrupt standard operations.

“Many of the girls said they trusted their coaches to do the right thing,” the article’s authors wrote. “Some believed they were in love with their coaches. Others blamed themselves for the abuse. Several had Olympic dreams, which their coaches exploited. A number of the coaches befriended the parents of the children they abused. Some victims eventually became afraid of their abusers.”

“We find it appalling that anyone would exploit a young athlete or child in this manner, and recognize the effect this behavior can have on a person’s life,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement. “USA Gymnastics has been proactive in helping to educate the gymnastics community and will continue to take every punitive action available within our jurisdiction and cooperate fully with law enforcement.”

However, the IndyStar contends many who have sought to bring abuse allegations against their coaches have found that the organization is not as responsive or sympathetic to victims’ concerns as it could be, prizing winning and growth over gymnast protection.

The IndyStar’s investigation continues. For the full report, which is well worth a read, click here.
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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/report-at- ... 45955.html

A 20-year toll: 368 gymnasts allege sexual exploitation

IndyStar investigations revealed that children were being abused in gymnastics gyms, but no one knew how widespread the problem was. Until now.

Tim Evans ,

Mark Alesia and

Marisa Kwiatkowski , IndyStar

A 12-year-old gymnast molested by an Olympic coach during “therapy” sessions.

Children as young as 6 secretly photographed nude by coaches.

Coaches who slipped a finger inside girls’ leotards.

A coach having almost daily sex with a 14-year-old at one of the country’s most prestigious gyms.

No one knows exactly how many children have been sexually exploited in America’s gyms over the past 20 years. But an IndyStar-USA TODAY Network review of hundreds of police files and court cases across the country provides for the first time a measure of just how pervasive the problem is.

At least 368 gymnasts have alleged some form of sexual abuse at the hands of their coaches, gym owners and other adults working in gymnastics. That’s a rate of one every 20 days. And it's likely an undercount.

IndyStar previously reported that top officials at USA Gymnastics, one of the nation’s most prominent Olympic organizations, failed to alert police to many allegations of sexual abuse that occurred on their watch and stashed complaints in files that have been kept secret. But the problem is far worse. A nine-month investigation found that predatory coaches were allowed to move from gym to gym, undetected by a lax system of oversight, or dangerously passed on by USA Gymnastics-certified gyms.

USA Gymnastics calls itself a leader in child safety. In a statement responding to IndyStar’s questions, it said: “Nothing is more important to USA Gymnastics, the Board of Directors and CEO Steve Penny than protecting athletes, which requires sustained vigilance by everyone — coaches, athletes, parents, administrators and officials. We are saddened when any athlete has been harmed in the course of his or her gymnastics career.”

The organization noted several initiatives aimed at creating a safer environment, including the use of criminal background checks for coaches, the practice of publishing the names of coaches banned from its competitions, and programs that provide educational materials to member gyms.

But IndyStar’s investigation found:

• USA Gymnastics focuses its efforts to stop sexual abuse on educating members instead of setting strict ground rules and enforcing them. It says it can't take aggressive action because member gyms are independent businesses and because of restrictions in federal law pertaining to Olympic organizations. Both are contentions others dispute.

• Gym owners have a conflict of interest when it comes to reporting abuse. Some fear harm to their business. When confronted with evidence of abuse, many quietly have fired the suspected abusers and failed to warn future employers. Some of those dangerous coaches continued to work with children.

• Some coaches are fired at gym after gym without being tracked or flagged by USA Gymnastics, or losing their membership with the organization. USA Gymnastics often has no idea when a coach is fired by a gym and no systematic way to keep track. Ray Adams was fired or forced to resign from six gyms in four states. Yet some gym owners hired Adams, believing his record was clean.

• Though the vast majority of officials put children’s well-being ahead of business and competition, some officials at every level have not. Coaches suspected of abuse kept their jobs as long as they accepted special monitoring. Others were allowed to finish their season before being fired. In 2009, Doug Boger was named a USA Gymnastics Coach of the Year and was sent to international competition while under investigation for alleged sexual abuse.

• Victims’ stories have been treated with skepticism by USA Gymnastics officials, gym owners, coaches and parents. Former gymnasts Charmaine Carnes and Jennifer Sey said they felt pressured by Penny not to pursue allegations of abuse by prominent coaches Don Peters and Boger. Carnes said she thought Penny tried to keep the claims about Boger quiet for as long as possible to protect the sport’s image and win championships, a characterization that USA Gymnastics disputes.

In its statement to IndyStar, USA Gymnastics said it is constantly striving to improve.

In the wake of IndyStar’s August investigation, USA Gymnastics hired a former prosecutor to evaluate its bylaws and offer advice on how to strengthen its policies. It also established a policy review panel on its board of directors.

“USA Gymnastics is proud of the work it has done to address and guard against child sexual abuse,” the organization said in materials provided to IndyStar.

USA Gymnastics also said it's playing a central role in developing a U.S. Center for SafeSport to oversee education programs and investigate and adjudicate claims of sexual misconduct for all U.S. Olympic Committee governing bodies.

USA Gymnastics has touted its many successes, including years of expansion and recent domination by Team USA at the Olympics. But administrators in the Indianapolis-based organization have declined numerous interview requests from IndyStar.

USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny during the women's
USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny during the women's gymnastics U.S. Olympic team trials at SAP Center, San Jose, California, Friday, July 8, 2016.
(Photo: Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports, Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

Penny, who has been president since 2005, declined to be interviewed for this and other stories. Neither the chairman of USA Gymnastics’ board, Paul Parilla, nor board members responded to interview requests.

During IndyStar’s investigation, USA Gymnastics agreed to one interview with its lawyer and public relations chief. Otherwise, officials have accepted only written questions and responded with often incomplete written replies. Many questions have gone unanswered.

USA Gymnastics and Penny have taken other steps to keep details of abuse cases secret. The organization as well as individual member gyms have entered confidentiality agreements as part of settlements in negligence cases with gymnasts claiming abuse.

And in court, USA Gymnastics has fought the release of documents that would show how Penny and other top officials have dealt with molestation allegations.

IndyStar went to court in Georgia and won a case in August to unseal depositions and sexual misconduct complaint files on 54 coaches. The Georgia Supreme Court confirmed that ruling in October and ordered the documents to be made public. But USA Gymnastics is continuing to fight, delaying the release.

Many who want reforms in Olympic sports said they are frustrated by the lack of meaningful action.

"It saddens me because I love our sport,” said Molly Shawen-Kollmann, a former member of the U.S. national team and current coach in the Cincinnati area. “This is not indicative of who we want to be. As an organization, they aren't doing their job."

Nancy Hogshead-Makar is an Olympic gold-medal swimmer
Nancy Hogshead-Makar is an Olympic gold-medal swimmer and attorney who is now CEO of the advocacy group Champion Women.
(Photo: Robert Scheer/IndyStar)

“There's paranoia at all levels... It's hard to take a stand.”

Mike Jacki, former USA Gymnastics president
“It’s very serious,” said Nancy Hogshead-Makar, an Olympic gold-medal swimmer and attorney who is now CEO of the advocacy group Champion Women. "It's just too easy for coaches to keep getting hired and hired and hired. Sexual abuse thrives on the fact that people are embarrassed about the topic, ashamed to talk about it, and they keep quiet about it. And that's exactly why molesting coaches keep getting hired at the next place. Nobody talks about a coach that is inappropriate with athletes; the coach quietly moves away and gets hired someplace else."

Mike Jacki, USA Gymnastics president from 1983 to 1994, noted that gymnastics is a sport in which winners and losers are determined by subjective judging. An outspoken gym owner or coach might fear gymnasts will be left off elite teams, including the Olympic team, which is chosen by a committee except for the all-around winner at the Olympic trials. For athletes with even modest ambition at the local level, it's wise not to make enemies.

"There's paranoia at all levels," Jacki said. "It's hard to take a stand."


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Out of Balance

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The warning a number gives you

Evidence of the hundreds of gymnasts exploited by their coaches over the years is buried in court documents and police reports across the nation. Often the children are mentioned by their initials or identified as “Victim 1.”

To tally the number of potential victims, IndyStar reporters scoured thousands of pages of public records and two decades of news stories.

Reporters also interviewed more than 100 people, including gym owners, athletes, coaches, police officers, prosecutors and child advocates, as well as survivors who came forward after the newspaper’s original investigation in August. More than 80 others declined to talk publicly.

All told, 115 adults at every level of the sport, from respected Olympic mentors to novices working with recreational gymnasts, were accused. The alleged abuse happened in every part of the U.S. — from Maine to California, Washington to Florida, and across the Midwest.

In Michigan, longtime girls gymnastics coach Phillip Paige Bishop was convicted in 2010 of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for molesting a 10-year-old girl. Bishop went to prison and was required to register as a sex offender.

In Pennsylvania, coach Keith R. Callen was arrested in May and charged with sexual assault by a sports official and other counts in connection with alleged incidents involving a female teenage gymnast over a two-year period starting in 2012. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

In California, dentist and gymnastics coach David Reiakvam pleaded guilty in 2012 to molesting two girls who lived with the coach and his wife. One, an elite acrobatic gymnast, said he began raping her at age 13. The other said at sentencing, “It’s not the predator in the bushes you need to worry about. It’s those in positions of power and authority … who harm precious and vulnerable children.”

Other victims included casual athletes and elite-level performers such as Olympians. They were teenagers and preteens. The youngest was 6. Almost all of them were girls.

They encountered the men accused of abusing them everywhere from a Rhode Island YMCA to the famous Karolyi Ranch in Texas, where USA Gymnastics sends its top female athletes to train.

It’s unclear how many of the alleged victims and coaches were USA Gymnastics members, because the organization does not disclose that information.

Many of the girls said they trusted their coaches to do the right thing. Some believed they were in love with their coaches. Others blamed themselves for the abuse. Several had Olympic dreams, which their coaches exploited. A number of the coaches befriended the parents of the children they abused. Some victims eventually became afraid of their abusers.

Former coach Jeffrey Bettman, who pleaded guilty this year to child pornography charges, hid cameras in changing rooms in gyms in California and Oregon over the course of a decade. William McCabe pleaded guilty in 2006 to doing the same thing in his Georgia gym.

Marvin Sharp, the 2010 national Women's Coach of the
Marvin Sharp, the 2010 national Women's Coach of the Year, is walked from court at the City-County Building in Indianapolis on Aug. 26, 2015. The former Olympic coach from Indianapolis was charged with posing girls as young as 6 with their genitals exposed, according to court records. He killed himself in jail.
(Photo: Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar 2015 file photo)

Marvin Sharp, a former Olympic coach from Indianapolis, orchestrated what parents and gymnasts believed were legitimate photo shoots. But in 2015 he was charged with posing girls as young as 6 with their genitals exposed, according to court records. He killed himself in jail.

Some victims regarded their coaches as parental figures. They were eager to please the coaches — even if it meant giving in to sexual demands.

Others, such as the 14-year-old girl sexually assaulted by former coach Christopher Wagoner in Texas, were convinced they were involved in legitimate romantic relationships with adults entrusted with their care.

USA Gymnastics member Kenneth Arnold, 28, was arrested in November after he was accused of inappropriately touching young girls at a gym in Zionsville, Indiana. Arnold, who has pleaded not guilty to child molestation and battery charges, is accused of pulling back the leotards of two gymnasts and touching their vaginas during gymnastics training.

And just last week, police arrested Joseph Hannon, 21, on an allegation of predatory criminal sexual contact with a 9-year-old girl at a USA Gymnastics member gym in Sycamore, Illinois. Police said Hannon, whose attorney said he will enter a not guilty plea Jan. 6, was on probation for a felony drug offense when he allegedly abused the girl.

The number of sexual abuse cases identified by IndyStar was surprising given how little publicity the issue of sex abuse in gymnastics has received, said Marci Hamilton, CEO of CHILD USA, a research and advocacy group based at the University of Pennsylvania.

It also concerned her that no one had bothered to count until now.

“I’m sad for all the parents and athletes who didn’t have the kind of warning that that number gives you,” Hamilton said. “But my guess is that it’s a pretty severe undercount.”

Hamilton and other experts said the actual number of victims is likely far higher — perhaps three to five times more — because the vast majority never come forward to report their abuser. Reporting rates, Hamilton said, may be even lower in sports because of the power coaches have over their athletes


An IndyStar investigation found that at least 368 athletes alleged some form of sexual abuse in gymnastics in the last two decades. Nate Chute/IndyStar

USA Gymnastics said it did not know how many children have alleged sexual abuse against its members.

Not all gyms and gymnasts in America are members of USA Gymnastics. But the Indianapolis-based national governing body is the country’s largest gymnastics organization, controlling the path to the Olympics, setting rules and policies that govern the sport, and promoting gymnastics on the grass-roots level. USA Gymnastics’ membership includes more than 125,000 athletes; 25,000 professional members, which includes coaches; and 3,450 clubs.

The organization's statement also said: “We find it appalling that anyone would exploit a young athlete or child in this manner, and recognize the effect this behavior can have on a person’s life. USA Gymnastics has been proactive in helping to educate the gymnastics community and will continue to take every punitive action available within our jurisdiction and cooperate fully with law enforcement.”

A painful process

Yet several people interviewed by IndyStar described the culture fostered by USA Gymnastics as being obsessed with winning, protective of coaches and dismissive of sexual assault charges leveled by athletes.

Former gymnast Charmaine Carnes told IndyStar she felt discouraged by Penny’s reaction to a sexual abuse complaint she and seven other women filed with the organization in 2009. Penny never told her not to pursue the complaint, she said, but she called his response “demeaning.”

“You can’t win championships... if you’re busting all your best coaches.”

Charmaine Carnes, former gymnast
The women came forward after learning Boger was still coaching more than two decades after he was charged with sexually abusing a gymnast in the early 1980s. He was acquitted on that charge.

In their 2009 letter to Penny, the women said they all had been mentally, physically or sexually abused by Boger in the 1980s. They asked that USA Gymnastics revoke his membership. Boger, who did not respond to IndyStar’s request for comment, previously denied the abuse allegations.

Carnes described the investigative process by officials at USA Gymnastics as “long, arduous, painful,” and at times so adversarial that the women felt as if they were being accused. It “seemed like he thought they were exaggerating,” she said of Penny.

The women said they believed they weren’t being taken seriously. As the investigation was underway, USA Gymnastics named Boger a national Coach of the Year and sent him with the U.S. team to the 2009 World Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia.

“I would put that person on some sort of leave, some sort of something where they’re not continuing to train young gymnasts while this investigation is going on,” Carnes said. “But Mr. Penny didn’t do that.”

In its statement to IndyStar, USA Gymnastics explained that “the individuals responsible for the Coach of the Year award were not aware that Mr. Boger was under investigation.”

Carnes said she thinks Penny tried to keep the claims about Boger quiet as long as he could to protect the sport’s image.

“You can’t win championships,” she said, “if you’re busting all your best coaches.”

Jennifer Sey, the 1986 all-around national champion, described a similar experience. In 2011, several gymnasts said Don Peters, who headed the 1984 U.S. Olympic team, had sexually abused them years earlier.

Sey said she was not abused by Peters, who has denied the allegations, but when victims came forward, she offered them support.

“They started out writing nice letters, asking for help and engagement,” Sey said. Instead, the accusers faced pushback from the USA Gymnastics chief. Ultimately, she said, the women went to the Orange County (Calif.) Register newspaper: “That was the reason it got pushed to that — they didn’t get cooperation from Mr. Penny,” she said.

After a series of stories published in 2011, USA Gymnastics banned Boger and Peters from participating in its competitions. Neither was criminally charged, in part because the statute of limitations had elapsed.

USA Gymnastics wrote that the ways in which Carnes and Sey characterized the investigation “do not reflect our recollection, and we work to treat anyone in these circumstances with dignity and respect.”

USA Gymnastics also said the SafeSport center, set to open early next year, should improve child safety. But some child advocates fear the center is more about public relations than combating abuse. They say the U.S. Olympic Committee’s desire to maintain a golden image may conflict with the goal of exposing child abuse in its ranks.

“It detracts from the stories they want to tell,” said Hogshead-Makar. "'We are winning in the Olympics and look at these amazing stories and the obstacles they’ve had to overcome, and the triumph.’ Nobody is more of a sucker for those stories than I am. But, at the same time, we have to make sure sport is safe for everyone."

'A passionate and energetic advocate'

When asked why USA Gymnastics does not take a more aggressive approach to weeding out potential wrongdoing, many gymnasts and some current and former employees of USA Gymnastics cited Penny.

Penny, whose long career in sports management included stints at USA Cycling and the Seattle Mariners, came to USA Gymnastics in 1999 as vice president of marketing with the goal of growing the sport.

During his tenure, the organization’s elite athletes experienced their greatest successes on the international stage. USA Gymnastics has signed up a growing list of big-time sponsors, including Kellogg’s and Hershey’s, which have pumped millions of dollars into a national governing body that was deep in debt when it arrived in Indianapolis in 1983.

Penny, who was paid $557,867 in 2014, according to most recently available public tax records, has been highly protective of the USA Gymnastics brand. He shares this driving mantra often in interviews: Win medals, grow the sport, improve customer service and increase visibility.

Some described the physically imposing CEO as domineering, not accepting of criticism and sometimes quick to anger.

When asked whether those were fair characterizations, USA Gymnastics issued the following statement, which it said should be attributed to Parilla, the board chairman: “Steve is a passionate and energetic advocate for our athletes, members and our sport. Steve’s executive style has evolved as he has grown professionally and he is viewed as an effective leader for the organization. He has always been open to feedback from the board, has its full support, and today leads USA Gymnastics in a highly professional manner.”

In more than a dozen cases reviewed by IndyStar, gymnasts, coaches, gym owners and others expressed disappointment with USA Gymnastics' response when they contacted the organization about potential sexual misconduct. Some said they never received a reply.

One was Jennifer Baldwin, a detective at the Redmond, Washington, Police Department, who was investigating sexual abuse allegations against a gym owner and coach in 2003.

“I made at least 3 calls to US Gymnastics requesting someone call me regarding Child Abuse with no return calls,” the detective wrote in her report.

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Stopping short of setting the standard

Over the years, USA Gymnastics has taken some steps to combat child abuse, but it has been reluctant to enforce strong standards for its member coaches and gyms. Instead, its efforts rest primarily in publishing information and offering advice to its more than 3,400 member clubs.

USA Gymnastics established a list of coaches and others who are “permanently ineligible for membership” in 1997. The ban prevented coaches from participating in competitions but not from working in member gyms.

A decade later, it began requiring background checks for coaches. In 2009, USA Gymnastics adopted a participant welfare policy, which outlines requirements and recommendations for creating a safe environment.

In 2011, rocked by allegations about Boger and Peters, USA Gymnastics stopped allowing coaches banned from its competitions to work in its member gyms.

“Member clubs are provided with a number of resources regarding business best practices, including Safe Sport,” USA Gymnastics said in its statement. But the narrow focus on education fails to close a loophole that has allowed more than one sexual predator to move through USA Gymnastics gyms, the IndyStar investigation found.

'There's got to be something'

IndyStar uncovered instances in which coaches — who were later convicted of sexual abuse — had been fired from multiple gyms for violating rules recommended by USA Gymnastics. Yet, again and again, they retained their membership and were able to find jobs in other USA Gymnastics gyms.

James Bell, who pleaded guilty to child molestation last December, worked at gyms in Oregon and Rhode Island. Ray Adams was fired from gyms in Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and Florida. William McCabe was fired from two gyms in Florida before pleading guilty in Georgia to sexual exploitation of children.

Jill Hill, former owner of Southern Oregon Gymnastics Academy in Medford, argues that USA Gymnastics, as the sport’s national governing body, is the only entity in a position to provide enough oversight to protect children from mobile predators.

“There’s got to be something,” she said, “where we have more knowledge than we have right now.”

Yet USA Gymnastics makes no effort to track fired coaches moving through its system of independent gyms, or to enforce many of the rules it recommends for its members.

It insists that that responsibility lies solely with its gym owners.

As a result, USA Gymnastics often does not find out about problems its members have been dealing with for years until it is too late. “Member clubs are independent businesses,” its statement said, “and more often than not, USA Gymnastics learns of issues pertaining to sexual misconduct once an arrest has been made.”

Hogshead-Makar and others say that is not an acceptable arrangement.

Hogshead-Makar said all USA Gymnastics members should be required to notify the organization when they fire a coach for a violation of USA Gymnastics rules regarding athlete safety.

She said the governing body also should require gyms to adopt specific safety measures as a condition of membership. The organization could, for example, prohibit certain behaviors often used by pedophiles to groom children, such as gift-giving, private massages and personal contact outside the gym.

"Athletes should know these norms; that they're in place to protect them, and that only a bad coach would break these rules," she said. "The Olympic committee and national governing bodies have to set a standard, say what the rules are, and then they have to have a mechanism to enforce those rules. If they aren't willing to enforce the rules, it's all a lot of talk."

Rather than accepting that oversight responsibility, USA Gymnastics has steadfastly denied in court filings and responses to IndyStar that it has any legal responsibility for the actions of coaches at its member gyms. Officials insist that the gyms set their own standards.

Penny also testified in a 2014 deposition that officials have to move carefully on sexual abuse complaints “because the coach is as much a member as the athlete” and the possibility of false allegations leading to a witch hunt is “very real.”

USA Gymnastics officials also have said the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act limits the actions they can take against coaches because it requires due process before a coach’s membership can be revoked.

"Under the Sports Act, USAG can adopt this legal posture, but the law doesn't require a national governing body to adopt this 'hands-off' policy," Hogshead-Makar said.

Hogshead-Makar, a lawyer who has studied and taught the Sports Act, finds the reluctance to use the process in the Sports Act specious. She said false accusations are made, but they are rare. A coach's or athlete's due process rights are designed to weed out the false accusations. And private organizations such as USA Gymnastics, she added, have every right to set conditions on membership as long as they’re enforced equally.

“If they want to,” she said, “they can say you have to have a purple lollipop every day if you want to be a member of our organization." USAG could revoke a coach's membership for not having that purple lollipop, she said, so long as it enforces the rules consistently and provides due process.

Jeffrey Bettman hugs a girl from the gym where he coached
Jeffrey Bettman hugs a girl from the gym where he coached in Oregon. Bettman is serving a 25-year federal prison sentence for child pornography. Authorities say he secretly recorded video and still images of at least 49 gymnasts as they changed clothes. (Photo: ©Jill Hill)

Any number of reforms could help, experts say. In the wake of their own sex abuse scandals, the Boy Scouts of America and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted restrictions that exceed those of USA Gymnastics.

Both organizations require background checks for all volunteers who come in contact with children. USA Gymnastics requires background checks on professional members, such as coaches and judges, but not others, including gym owners. A gym can attain membership with as few as one professional member.

The Catholic Church also bans its dioceses from entering into confidentiality agreements in the settlement of abuse claims, unless the victim requests it. Such settlements, which often ban disclosure of payment amounts and details about an organization’s handling of sex abuse allegations, can hide incidents that enable abuse to continue.

Nevertheless, some gyms have entered into such agreements after negligence lawsuits were filed. And so has USA Gymnastics.

In two lawsuits filed in Washington in 2005 and 2006, USA Gymnastics denied responsibility for a child’s abuse. The organization settled with the plaintiffs after conducting a secret mock trial, in effect, asking a focus group to consider the case “to determine liability risk and monetary exposure,” according to case records. Those documents revealed the value of one of the cases “would be approximately one million dollars.”

USA Gymnastics said both settlements included confidentiality clauses requested by the former gymnasts. But it declined to answer when asked whether it would join the Catholic Church in banning confidentiality agreements that were not requested by the plaintiff.

One of USA Gymnastics’ most prestigious members, World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) in Dallas, also settled a negligence suit brought by a woman whose coach, Chris Wagoner, pleaded guilty to having sex with her when she was 14 years old. USA Gymnastics was initially a defendant but later was dismissed from the lawsuit, which was settled by the remaining parties in 2008. The plaintiff told IndyStar she signed a confidentiality agreement.

WOGA is co-owned by Valeri Liukin, whom USA Gymnastics promoted in September to its highest-profile position, leading the American Olympic team as women's national team coordinator. Liukin's attorney told IndyStar, "WOGA had no knowledge of inappropriate conduct on the part of Wagoner until his arrest."

Hamilton, the founder of CHILD USA, said “a couple of just minimal requirements” would go a long way toward better protecting children.

First, no coach should be allowed to be alone with an athlete. It’s a recommendation USA Gymnastics shares with gym owners and coaches, but not an absolute prohibition.

Second, Hamilton said, is a need for annual, mandatory “high-quality training” for every coach, athlete and parent. She also said it needs to be done in person, not online.

Repetition is important, she said: “By the time their kid is 12 or 13, and it really matters, the parent should be able to recite those presentations on their own.”

USA Gymnastics does not require annual training for all athletes and parents to recognize and respond to sexual abuse.

A case in Oregon shows what happens when gym owners are largely left to deal with potential abusive coaches on their own.

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Moving from gym to gym

Over more than a decade starting in 2000, longtime coach Jeffrey Bettman installed secret cameras in changing rooms in gyms in Oregon and California.

According to court records, Bettman made 469 videos of 49 gymnasts he coached, many of them naked or partially naked. The girls ranged in age from 8 to 16. Bettman also produced 220 still images of the girls, zooming in on their genitals, according to authorities. He also was accused of molesting girls, but he was not prosecuted on those allegations, which he denied.

Before all that came to light, Bettman had been sued in California on allegations of sexually abusing a female gymnast. The suit was dismissed, but he was fired from at least two other gyms for what amounted to creepy behavior.

Jeffrey Bettman hugs a girl from the gym where he coached
Jeffrey Bettman hugs a girl from the gym where he coached in Oregon. Bettman is serving a 25-year federal prison sentence for child pornography. Authorities say he secretly recorded video and still images of at least 49 gymnasts as they changed clothes.
(Photo: ©Jill Hill)

This was a typical problem encountered by gym owners: Gyms fire coaches for things that are widely recognized to be warning signs of abuse but don’t rise to criminal behavior. No one keeps track of the firings, and gym owners are loath to defame a coach when someone calls for a reference. A problem coach can move from gym to gym for years, exploiting countless children.

When Bettman arrived in Medford in 2004, he seemed affable and intelligent, according to former gym owner Jill Hill. Later, she said, she noticed him pulling pre-adolescent girls onto his lap, kissing their foreheads and holding them with their legs wrapped around his waist.

Hill fired Bettman in 2008. Shortly afterward, a parent told her Bettman had molested her child. She was going to police. Authorities ultimately said they had too little evidence to file charges.

In the meantime, Hill said, she discovered that Bettman was working at another gym in Grants Pass, Oregon. Like many other gym owners, Hill said she alerted USA Gymnastics. She not only contacted the state director, but also said she called Kathy Kelly, then director of the women's program at USA Gymnastics headquarters in Indianapolis.

“I said, ‘OK, there’s an ongoing investigation and, as a USAG member, I’m a club member, isn’t it the responsibility of USAG to help protect the kids?” Hill recalled of their conversation.

At that time, Hill did not know about Bettman’s hoard of photographs, but the behaviors she said she described were warning signs listed on USA Gymnastics’ website. Violating those behaviors, however, carries no consequences under USA Gymnastics bylaws.

“She said she completely understood,” Hill said of her conversation with Kelly, “but her hands were tied.”

Kelly is no longer at USA Gymnastics and declined a request for comment.

“I vividly recall telling her that USAG's ‘background check’ for the professional certification was flawed in that it only flagged those convicted of felonies and did nothing for coaches who were slipping through the cracks and changing gyms to avoid further scrutiny,” Hill told IndyStar.

Bettman kept coaching.

During that time, he secretly photographed 11 more girls, according to police.

Four years later, in 2012, a federal child pornography sting snared Bettman after he shared child pornography online.

Investigators discovered his cache of gymnastics images and identified 49 gymnasts he had coached in two states. He had labeled the videos with his victims’ initials.

Bettman pleaded guilty in January to 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and one count of distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography. He is serving a 25-year term in federal prison.

Officials at USA Gymnastics told IndyStar it “was aware the matter had been reported to law enforcement and monitored the situation. We then learned of his arrest and took the appropriate steps.” USA Gymnastics placed Bettman on its list of banned members earlier this year.

Betrayal of trust

“I will never like being touched or physically embraced by others.”

A victim of former coach Jeffrey Bettman
Experts say it can take a lifetime for a sexual abuse survivor to heal.

One of the girls victimized by Bettman described a situation reflected again and again across the country. “Jeff was closer to me than any uncle I have, a runner up for ‘dad’ or ‘grandpa’ if this makes sense,” she wrote to the judge.

“But Jeff broke that bond/trust and left me feeling betrayed, emotionally and sexually abused, taken advantage of, and made my personal growth a difficult one that I have struggled with for several years.”

The stress drove her to an eating disorder by the time she was in seventh grade. Bettman made her hate her body, the girl wrote, even though she weighed only 89 pounds.

Now in college, the young woman said she remains haunted by fear that nude pictures he secretly took of her will someday show up on the internet. And she has difficulty maintaining relationships.

“I will never like being touched or physically embraced by others,” she told the judge. “Something that should be a joy, enjoyed and cherished in life, will always be a struggle for me.”
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016 ... /95198724/

Former local gymnastics coach gets 8-10 years in prison in child rape case
Susan Tuz, Staff Writer Published 11:09 pm, Wednesday, May 26, 2010


Gymnastics coach Steven Infante in this file photo. Photo: Contributed Photo / The News-Times Contributed
Photo: Contributed Photo

After deliberating over two days, a Middlesex (Mass.) County jury found former Brookfield gymnastics coach Steve Infante guilty of child rape and molestation charges Wednesday.
Infante's three-week trial centered on two alleged victims, a Massachusetts woman who claimed Infante started a sexual relationship with her when she was 14 and a Connecticut woman who alleged Infante made sexual advances when she was 16.
The jury took six hours over two days to convict Infante, 54, a New Milford resident, on three counts of child rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14.
Previous court reports had incorrectly stated that Infante was now a Milford resident.
Middlesex Superior Court Judge Bruce R. Henry sentenced Infante to eight to 10 years in state prison.
The judge also ordered five years of probation following prison time, with the conditions that Infante have no direct or indirect contact with any witnesses, that he have no contact with any person under the age of 18, and that he register as a sex offender, the Middlesex DA's office reported.
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Former local gymnastics coach gets 8-10 years in prison in child rape case
Infante found guilty Former local gymnastics coach gets 8-10 years
"This defendant took advantage of his position as a coach and mentor to these victims, violating the trust of these young girls and their parents," Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said Wednesday, "by engaging in a pattern of inappropriate, prurient behavior and grooming in order to force these vulnerable victims into submitting to sexual assault."
Leone thanked the jury for its verdict and "the courageous victims for coming forward."
According to authorities, Infante coached gymnastics in Massachusetts and Connecticut and was the president of the Five Star Gymnastics Overnight Camp held in Springfield, Mass. He is also the former owner of Olympia Gymnastics in Brookfield.
Referring to the Massachusetts victim as Victim A, Leone said Infante began "a pattern of grooming" her when she was 13, and also other victims, "to become more comfortable with his approaches and excessive physical contact."
This grooming included "gifts, alcohol, excessive flirtatious actions, sexual innuendo and inappropriate touching... as part of camp rituals," Leone said.
Victim A was 14 and Infante was 35 the first time he "forced himself on her sexually," Leone claimed.
The charged crimes against Victim A allegedly occurred between the fall of 1992 and the fall of 1994, when Infante repeatedly raped her, Leone said.
A second victim, a then 16-year-old gymnast who was coached by Infante in Connecticut, was also sexually assaulted by Infante while she was attending a camp sleepover in Massachusetts in 1993, Leone said.
Attempts to contact Infante's attorney, Kenneth Mello, for comment were unsuccessful.
The case was prosecuted by Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Thomas O'Reilly. It was investigated by the Acton Police Department and Massachusetts state police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office.
http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Form ... 501464.php

Gymnastics coach Phillip Paige Bishop's sex conviction, sentence upheld on appeal
John S. Hausman | jhausman@mlive.com By John S. Hausman | jhausman@mlive.com

on December 21, 2011 at 2:11 PM, updated December 22, 2011 at 11:15 AM
Phillip Paige Bishop sentencing
Cory Morse | Muskegon Chronicle

Phillip Paige Bishop at his sentencing Sept. 7, 2010.
The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld the felony conviction and prison sentence of Phillip Paige Bishop, a longtime Muskegon-area girls gymnastics coach convicted in 2010 of sexually fondling a 10-year-old student a decade earlier.

In an opinion released Wednesday, a three-judge appeals panel found that a Muskegon County jury acted properly in finding Bishop guilty of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim younger than 13. The appeals court also upheld Muskegon County 14th Circuit Judge Timothy G. Hicks' sentencing of Bishop to prison for between 35 months and 10 years.

The decision was unanimous.

At Bishop's August 2010 trial, the then 20-year-old victim testified the incident happened one summer evening in 2000 in Bishop’s home after he brought her there following gymnastics class. She was a friend of Bishop's young daughter in 2000 and said she expected the daughter to be home, but the daughter wasn't.

The victim said Bishop molested her during a massage as she was lying on her stomach on a pullout bed. She said he straddled her legs and worked his way down her back until he slid her underwear down and then penetrated her with his fingers.

In his appeal, Bishop argued that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction because he did not confess and his testimony contradicted the victim's.

The appeals court rejected that argument, citing case law that a jury may convict based on the uncorroborated testimony of a victim of criminal sexual conduct.

Bishop further argued that the judge incorrectly scored his sentencing guidelines, contending that, contrary to Hicks' rulings, it was not proven that the victim suffered serious psychological injury requiring professional treatment; or that Bishop moved her to a place of greater danger to further the sexual contact; or that he committed sexual penetration.

The appeals judges rejected the appeal on all those points, finding that the judge's conclusions were reasonable.

Signing the opinion were appellate judges Joel P. Hoekstra, Kirsten Frank Kelly and Jane M. Beckering.

Bishop, now 52, is lodged at Parnall Correctional Facility in Jackson, Mich., as a Level One or minimum-security prisoner. His earliest release date is Jan. 24, 2013.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/inde ... paige.html

Former Medford gymnastics coach arrested again on child pornography charges

Jeffrey Scott Bettman

Tuesday
Posted Sep 9, 2014 at 6:41 PM
Updated Sep 10, 2014 at 9:18 AM

By Sam WheelerMail Tribune
A former Southern Oregon gymnastics coach and sports photographer who was arrested in 2012 on child-pornography charges in Jackson County for allegedly videotaping girls while they changed clothes was arrested again Monday on a federal warrant stemming from similar charges.
Jeffrey Scott Bettman, 55, of Medford, faces 11 counts of using a minor to produce visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, and one count each of receiving child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to an indictment filed in the U.S. District Court of Medford in August 2013.
Bettman had been lodged in the Jackson County Jail since April 2013 under the authority of the state until Monday. Oregon Judicial Department records show he was released Monday from the state's custody and immediately arrested on the federal charges and sent back to jail.
"He never left," said Jackson County Deputy District Attorney Terry Smith-Norton, who is prosecuting the case for the state.
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She said both the state and the federal government plan to pursue charges against Bettman.
His federal charges pertain to 11 minors he allegedly filmed to produce sexually explicit content between April 23, 2008, and Nov. 2, 2012, the indictment states.
Between 2008 and 2012, Bettman coached gymnastics at Unlimited Sports in Grants Pass, owner Lisa Austin told the Grants Pass Daily Courier in 2012.
He is accused of filming the minors with a Sony video camera obtained through interstate commerce and transferring sexually explicit visual content of the minors using the Internet, the indictment against him states.
Prior to his job in Grants Pass, Bettman coached gymnastics at the Rogue Valley School of Gymnastics and its descendant, the Southern Oregon Gymnastics Academy, where he was fired in 2008 for undisclosed reasons.
In Jackson County Circuit Court, Bettman was indicted in November 2012 on 30 charges: 10 counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct and 10 counts each of first- and second-degree encouraging child sex abuse. He allegedly committed the crimes between December 2005 and May 2012, Oregon Judicial Department records show.
Using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct is a Measure 11 crime that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 70 months.
The images related to the Measure 11 charges represent 10 underage victims. Still photographs were created from the videos by Bettman for display in the production of child pornography, a Jackson County prosecutor said in 2013.
Bettman was one of several people targeted in an October 2012 sting operation after police discovered Bettman's Internet Protocol address had downloaded child pornography images.
Once investigators realized Bettman's connection to the gymnastics clubs, he became a primary focus of the task force investigation, officials said.
After obtaining a warrant, police searched his home and identified the presence of what appeared to be child pornography created by Bettman in the form of videos of gymnasts changing, taken without their consent or knowledge, investigators said. The videos were found in several locations at Bettman's residence in the 1800 block of Camp Baker Road just outside of Medford, police said.
Following his initial indictment in Jackson County, Bettman was released from jail the same day after a family member posted the required $25,000 on his $250,000 bail. He was arrested again in April 2013 after being deemed a flight risk, and has been lodged ever since.
According to Bettman's federal detention order, he is to remain in jail until he faces federal trial, which is set for Nov. 12.
Neither of Bettman's lawyers returned phone messages seeking information about the cases, nor did federal prosecutor Judith Harper.
This story has been updated.

http://www.mailtribune.com/article/2014 ... /140909685

Blue » Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:40 pm wrote:That is some difficult stuff to read but thanks for the post about real victims and perps, slad.

Marvin Sharp Was My Gymnastics Coach

I’m shocked at the allegations that may have driven him to commit suicide—but I’m not surprised.

By Rebecca Schuman

Marvin Sharp as a 2008 U.S. Olympic Women’s Gymnastics team member, and in a booking photo, August 24, 2015.
Photo by USOC/MCT/MCT via Getty Images, via Marion County Sheriff’s Office

This past Saturday, Indianapolis gymnastics coach Marvin Sharp—who once mentored Olympians Bridget Sloan and Samantha Peszek—was found dead in his Marion County, Indiana, jail cell in an apparent suicide. Sharp had been arrested Aug. 25 on one count of child molestation and was subsequently charged, at the state and federal level, with sexual misconduct with a minor and possession of child pornography. He was 49.

Rebecca Schuman

Rebecca Schuman is a columnist for Slate and the author of Schadenfreude, A Love Story and Kafka and Wittgenstein. She lives in St. Louis.

The accusations against him were stomach-turning. One of the gymnasts at his academy alleged that over the course of two years, he compelled her to pose for hundreds (“if not thousands”) of photographs that any reasonable person would infer to be lurid and that he touched her inappropriately during the “shoots” and while assuming the role of de facto physical therapist. According to investigators, the staggering amount of child pornography recovered from Sharp’s residence betrayed a monstrous reality lurking behind the star-studded exterior of his gymnastics dynasty.

I cannot begin to wrap my mind around why someone would do the things that Sharp is alleged to have done. But I can tell you exactly how a person in his position could commit such acts under the unsuspecting noses of teammates, parents, and other coaches—and get away with it for years.

I knew Marvin Sharp. He was my gymnastics coach. Before he took Sloan and Peszek to the Olympics, before Sharp’s Gymnastics Academy became a destination gym, he coached Levels 6 through 10 at the National Academy of Artistic Gymnastics in Eugene, Oregon. He didn’t produce any Olympians back then as a mustachioed 23-year-old. But he did take me and my Level 6 teammates to the state championships, where my best friend won her age division and I placed 10th on the floor exercise.

Coach Marvin was arrogant and vain. (He drove a cherry-red Jeep with the vanity plate SHARP.) He was also near-magical in his ability to coax difficult new tricks out of even the less talented among us (like me). It was heartbreaking when he decided to hand-pick the five tiniest and most talented girls to create a special new Level 6 group, a “pre-elite” program run under his exclusive tutelage. I was mad with jealousy—back then, I would have given anything to be as minuscule, as formidably gifted, as adored as his preteen favorite, who spent so much time spent nestled into his lap.

There are intrinsic aspects of competitive gymnastics that are absent in almost every other sport, and that could not be more welcoming to potential pedophiles. Of course, the vast majority of gymnastics coaches are not child molesters or pornographers. But a sickening number have been accused, arrested or convicted of such offenses just in the past five years alone—Sharp wasn’t even the first who’d coached me to get in legal trouble. He was the third.

Coaches favor the tiny and perfect, yes, but also the docile and obedient.
It’s not just the unfettered access to young, barely clothed athletes, although obviously that’s a part of it. Gymnastics also requires an intense mixture of physicality and trust. A girl training a new trick—a full-twisting back handspring on beam, a breathtaking series of release moves on bars, a potentially deadly Yurchenko-approach vault—is life-dependent on her coach handling her body. An outsider might be shocked at the level of bodily contact between coach and athlete and at how blasé the gymnast is about being pawed. What’s more, the coach doing the pawing is almost always male—women often lack the height or upper-body strength to spot difficult skills.

There is also the potentially infinite amount of time an athlete can spend alone with her coach with zero questions asked. Extra practice on a Saturday afternoon? For a high-level athlete training for a big meet, not weird at all. A late-night ride home from a meet in another town? Happened to me more times than I can count. Travel with only the coach as the chaperone? I remember being so envious when Coach Marvin’s special group got to fly all the way to Hawaii with him.

Finally, competitive gymnastics is so time-intensive—training five to eight hours per day, plus meets on weekends—that the coach often assumes an intensely paternal role. I wasn’t even an elite-level athlete, but during the years I spent as a gymnast, I sometimes interacted more with my coaches than I did with my own parents. And I cared more when Coach approved and cried more when he bawled me out in the training room (always alone, it goes without saying).

Some of you may be asking yourselves: Why did Sharp’s alleged victim cooperate with these grotesque photo shoots for two entire years? Notwithstanding the fact that the victim was just 12 to 14 years old, anyone with experience in competitive gymnastics would tell you that coaches favor the tiny and perfect, yes, but also the docile and obedient. Say “no” to Coach, and you may discover you’re suddenly not on the roster for the Great Western Invitational in Reno.

After Sharp left my Eugene academy under circumstances that were never made clear (but did not involve, as far as I know, criminal activity), I once ran into him at the movies. He was with three girls who couldn’t have been older than 12. I’m sure their parents—like the delighted mothers and fathers of the “pre-elite” girls, excited their offspring might just be headed for Seoul or Barcelona—sent them off happily, knowing how talented and special they must be to garner Coach Marvin’s favor. What other sport would grant a 24-year-old man the pretense to go out to the movies alone with a gaggle of preteens?

Sharp apparently died by suicide on Sept. 19, which also happened to be National Gymnastics Day. I’m sure the sport’s American governing body did not expect to be celebrating by releasing the following statement: “USA Gymnastics is aware of the untimely death of Marvin Sharp. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all involved in this tragic set of circumstances.”

The allegations against Sharp and his death cast a pall over a sport that certainly has plenty of other problems: bodies irreparably broken before they even finish puberty, eating disorders, etc. But gymnastics is also unparalleled in its combination of superhuman athleticism and balletic grace. I love gymnastics, I always will, and I eagerly await the 2016 Olympics.

But I worry that one or more of the new hordes of starry-eyed little girls who descend upon gyms in the games’ wake—as I did after beholding Mary Lou Retton in 1984—will once again find themselves in situations that provide the easiest possible means and opportunities to be harmed. All that’s missing is the motive. Sharp’s case is a stark reminder that motive could be lurking anywhere—even behind the smiling eyes of a champion-maker.

Just when you thought 2016 couldn’t get any worse, terrible news emerges from the Reddi-wip factory. “A whipped cream shortage is looming, just in time for peak holiday pie,” warns the Washington Post. “The Nation Is Facing a Dire Whipped-Cream Shortage During Prime Dessert Season,” says Time. “Whipped Cream Shortage Could Leave Your Holiday Pies Bare,” declares a CBS affiliate in Miami that apparently employs a crack team of headline-writers.

It’s tragic but true: America is facing a shortage of whipped cream and a consequent epidemic of bare pies. This worst-case scenario is a result of a reduced supply of nitrous oxide, the propellant used in aerosol cans, following an explosion at a plant in Florida last summer. “We encourage shoppers to stock up early on Reddi-wip during our peak holiday season,” a Conagra representative told the Post. And the shortage doesn’t just affect Reddi-wip—it affects all dairy whipped toppings sold in cans.

It’s hard to overstate how much the nation’s holiday spirit will suffer as a result of the whipped cream shortage. Canned whipped cream is one of our greatest natural resources, beloved by Americans of all stripes. Now, like avocados and limes before it, whipped cream lies cruelly out of reach for those who didn’t buy early or can’t afford inflated prices. Our dessert landscape will be barren, devoid of those sweet, fluffy bursts of air-infused cream that so many of us have come to expect. There is no silver lining to this cloud of rare, unaffordable whipped cream. After all, what is whipped cream without aerosol cans? It’s unthinkable, that’s what it is.

As we mourn the national whipped cream deficit, many Americans will be looking for substitutes for their beloved Reddi-wip. Now, nothing can fill the whipped-cream-can-shaped hole on our tables and in our hearts. The replacements I’m about to suggest are clearly inferior to the canned whipped cream that God intended us to have. They’re like mock apple pie, or artificially sweetened brownies, or gluten-free bread: different from and worse than the original. But these whipped cream substitutes, though they can never live up to real canned whipped cream, will at least be white, creamy, and edible.

Here’s one option: Did you know that if you buy heavy cream, which is often found in cartons in the refrigerated dairy aisle, you can “whip” up something similar to Reddi-wip? (Heavy cream is sometimes called whipping cream, a pathetic attempt by the fresh dairy industry to capitalize on the whipped cream industry’s success.) If you pour the heavy cream into a bowl and whisk it for a few minutes, it thickens to almost the consistency of canned whipped cream. You can add powdered sugar to make it sweet, and vanilla or booze to give it flavor. It’s no Reddi-wip, but it’s something, at least. I like to call it “whisked cream.”

Another option, if you have an electric handheld or stand mixer, is to beat heavy cream until it thickens to make “mixed cream,” if you will. I’ve also heard that you can make “shaken cream” by pouring heavy cream into a jar and shaking it for a few minutes.

I am well aware of the many drawbacks of these methods. You can’t make them without dirtying some dishes. They take minutes, rather than seconds, to make. They require more than one ingredient. They don’t come out of a can. Believe me, I know. These whipped cream substitutes are nowhere near perfect. But during a natural disaster like our current whipped cream shortage, sometimes you have to take what you can get.

18 more sue doctor, MSU, USA gymnastics over sexual assault allegations

Plaintiff Rachael Denhollander, center, is seen during a press conference with attorneys Adam C. Sturdivant, left, and Stephen R. Drew, in Grand Rapids, Tuesday, Jan. 10, announcing the filing of a lawsuit against Dr. Larry Nassar, Michigan State University, Twistars and USA Gymnastics for alleged sexual abuse and institutional failures. (Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com)
Emily Rose Bennett | ebennet1@mlive.com
Print Email Emily Lawler | elawler@mlive.com By Emily Lawler | elawler@mlive.com
on January 10, 2017 at 12:46 PM, updated January 10, 2017 at 2:48 PM
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A lawsuit filed by 18 alleged victims of Dr. Larry Nassar claims a series of institutional failures perpetuated his access to the young females he is accused of abusing.

"For over 20 years, Defendant Nassar had unfettered access to young female athletes through the Sports Medicine Clinic at MSU, and through his involvement with USAG and Twistars, who referred athletes to his care," reads the lawsuit, which names, as defendants, Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics, Nassar and Twistars, a Lansing-area gymnastics training facility.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday by attorneys Stephen Drew, Adam Sturdivant, John Manly, Vince Finaldi and Alex Cunny. They represent 18 plaintiffs who allege they were sexually abused by Nassar, including some who are still minors.

This action joins another civil lawsuit pending in Ingham County Circuit Court.

Nassar, who worked in MSU's sports medicine clinic, is the subject of separate criminal charges at both the state and federal levels. Attorney General Bill Schuette is moving forward with a criminal sexual asasult case, but police say they have received more than 50 other complaints against Nassar. He's also facing federal child pornography charges.

Ex-USA gymnastics doctor faces sex-abuse charges; 'tip of the iceberg,' AG says
Dr. Larry Nassar, former doctor for the USA gymnastics team and a former Michigan State University faculty member, has been charged with sexually abusing a young girl in his Holt home -- and those charges are the "tip of the iceberg," Attorney General Bill Schuette announced Tuesday.

Plaintiffs in the civil suit hope their suit against the institutions Nassar worked for brings about institutional change, attorneys said.

"If you have the right systems in place and you vigorously enforce them and you send a message that 'we are going to vigorously enforce them,' that's how you stop these type of things from happening. You don't discourage people from making complaints," said Drew, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

He said his clients, most of whom remain anonymous in the lawsuit, had in some cases alerted the university to Nassar's methods, which allegedly involved things like digital penetration of the vagina or anus and non-consensual touching of breasts.

MSU officials told in 2000 of sexual abuse by Dr. Nassar, lawyer alleges

One plaintiff who has come forward publicly is Rachael Denhollander, who spoke Tuesday at a press conference announcing the suit's filing.

She said she visited Nassar five times for hip and back pain, and he digitally penetrated her under the guise of medical treatment. She said the institutional prominence that MSU and USA Gymnastics had afforded Nassar made her believe he used legitimate medical procedures.

Now, she's part of the suit because she hopes it brings about institutional change and protects girls and young women in the future.

"The reality of sexual abuse is this: A pedophile is only as prominent as the people around him allow him to be," Denhollander said.

There are 17 other women identified in the suit. According to the complaint, all plaintiffs are or were young athletes participating in swimming, figure skating, track and field, field hockey, basketball, gymnastics or soccer. They are seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney fees in addition to institutional change.

USA Gymnastics and MSU have severed ties with Nassar.

Asked for comment on the lawsuit, MSU issued a statement:

"While we cannot comment specifically on pending or ongoing litigation, we are deeply disturbed by the state and federal criminal charges against Larry Nassar, and our hearts go out to those directly affected."

USA Gymnastics issued a statement as well.

"USA Gymnastics finds the allegations against Dr. Nassar very disturbing. When we first learned of athlete concerns regarding Dr. Nassar in the summer of 2015, we immediately notified the FBI and relieved him of any further assignments. USA Gymnastics has fully cooperated with the FBI in its investigation," the organization said.

"We find it appalling that anyone would exploit a young athlete or child in this manner, and we are grateful to the athletes who have come forward."
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/201 ... a_gym.html

Olympic Gymnastics Ex-Doctor Pleads Guilty to Sex Charges
A former doctor accused of molesting girls while working for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University has pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sexual assault.

Nov. 22, 2017, at 11:36 a.m.

Olympic Gymnastics Ex-Doctor Pleads Guilty to Sex Charges

The Associated Press
Dr. Larry Nassar, 54, appears in court for a plea hearing in Lansing, Mich., Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. Nasser, a sports doctor accused of molesting girls while working for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sexual assault and will face at least 25 years in prison. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) The Associated Press


By DAVID EGGERT, Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A former doctor accused of molesting girls while working for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple charges of sexual assault and will face at least 25 years in prison.

Larry Nassar, 54, admitted to abusing seven girls, mostly under the guise of treatment at his Lansing-area home and a campus clinic. All but one of his accusers was a gymnast. He faces similar charges in a neighboring county and lawsuits filed by more than 125 women and girls. Nassar lost his license to practice medicine in April.

Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Gabby Douglas are among the women who have publicly said they were among Nassar's victims.

Some of his accusers attended the hearing Wednesday in a packed Ingham County courtroom. Some were crying.

"For all those involved ... I'm so horribly sorry that this was like a match that turned into a forest fire out of control," Nassar said. "I pray the rosary every day for forgiveness. I want them to heal. I want the community to heal."

Nassar admitted to digitally penetrating the victims and agreed that his conduct had no legitimate medical purpose and that he did not have the girls' consent.

The plea deal in Ingham County calls for a minimum prison sentence of 25 years, but a judge could set the minimum sentence as high as 40 years. In Michigan, inmates are eligible for parole after serving a minimum sentence.

Sentencing was set for Jan. 12.

A prosecutor said 125 women and girls have filed complaints with Michigan State University police.

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina told Nassar: "You used your position of trust ... in the most vile way to abuse children. ... I agree that now is a time of healing, but it may take them a lifetime of healing while you spend your lifetime behind bars thinking about what you did in taking away their childhood."

She called the accusers "superheroes for all of America, because this is an epidemic."

The girls have testified that Nassar molested them with his hands, sometimes when a parent was present in the room, while they sought help for gymnastics injuries.

After the hearing, one of the accusers, Larissa Boyce, said it was "really hard" to look at Nassar in the courtroom.

"This was a man we trusted. He's admitting what he did was wrong and evil," she said.

Separately, Nassar is charged with similar crimes in Eaton County, the location of an elite gymnastics club. He also is awaiting sentencing in federal court on child pornography charges.

The Michigan criminal cases against Nassar followed reports last year in the Indianapolis Star about how USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians, mishandled complaints about sexual misconduct involving the doctor and coaches. Women and girls said the stories inspired them to step forward with detailed allegations of abuse, sometimes when their parents were in the exam room at Michigan State.
https://www.usnews.com/news/sports/arti ... ex-charges

'Enjoy hell:' Dr. Larry Nassar to be sentenced for assaulting gymnasts
http://www.syracuse.com/sports/index.ss ... nasts.html

smoking since 1879 » Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:49 am wrote:can’t control guns, cant control dicks, why dont you do us all a favour and just all jump in the feking ocean?
seriously, what is wrong with you people?

At 10pm last Thursday night, Jonny Gould took to the stage in the ballroom at London’s Dorchester Hotel. “Welcome to the most un-PC event of the year,” he roared.

Mr Gould — who presented Channel 5’s Major League Baseball show — was there to host a charity auction, the centrepiece of a secretive annual event, the Presidents Club Charity Dinner.

The gathering’s official purpose is to raise money for worthy causes such as Great Ormond Street Hospital, the world-renowned children’s hospital in London’s Bloomsbury district.

Auction items included lunch with Boris Johnson, the British foreign secretary, and afternoon tea with Bank of England governor Mark Carney.

But this is a charity fundraiser like no other.

It is for men only. A black tie evening, Thursday’s event was attended by 360 figures from British business, politics and finance and the entertainment included 130 specially hired hostesses.

All of the women were told to wear skimpy black outfits with matching underwear and high heels. At an after-party many hostesses — some of them students earning extra cash — were groped, sexually harassed and propositioned.

The event has been a mainstay of London’s social calendar for 33 years, yet the activities have remained largely unreported — unusual, perhaps, for a fundraiser of its scale.

The questions raised about the event have been thrown into sharp relief by the current business climate, when bastions of sexual harassment and the institutionalised objectification of women are being torn down.

The Financial Times last week sent two people undercover to work as hostesses on the night. Reporters also gained access to the dining hall and surrounding bars.

Hostesses reported men repeatedly putting hands up their skirts; one said an attendee had exposed his penis to her during the evening.

Over the course of six hours, many of the hostesses were subjected to groping, lewd comments and repeated requests to join diners in bedrooms elsewhere in the Dorchester. . .