As the Summer Olympics get underway in Rio, a new report unveils a possible sexual abuse scandal at USA Gymnastics.
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“And one of the most important reasons that you substantiate a claim is because the potential for, if you will allow the expression, a witch hunt, becomes very real”, Penny said in court papers uncovered by the Star. But instead of investigating or reporting the allegations, USA Gymnastics routinely filed them away.
Legal experts and child advocates expressed alarm about that approach, saying the best practice is to report every allegation to authorities.
IN state law requires everyone to report sexual abuse, though USA Gymnastics, which is headquartered in Indianapolis, argued that organizations are not bound to this law. She called the Federal Bureau of Investigation and McCabe was eventually accused of molesting girls as young as fifth-graders. Ganser, the woman who has filed the lawsuit against USA Gymnastics, enrolled her daughter at the gym in 2002. “It didn’t have to happen to my daughter, and it didn’t have to happen to other little girls”.
According to Shelley Haymaker, an IN attorney who represents child victims, USA Gymnastics may have broken IN state law by failing to report allegations of abuse – attorneys are encouraged to “err on the side of precaution” and to report claims if there’s a “reason to believe” abuse has occurred. Its members include more than 121,000 athletes and 3,000 gyms, including about 100 in New Jersey.
Ganser also learned that USA Gymnastics had a file of sexual misconduct complaints on McCabe dating back four years before her daughter met him. But records show it compiled complaints on more than 50 coaches. In 2013, the organization stated that “it’s always best to err on the side of the child”. Any reports from a third-party were considered “hearsay”, though on occasion, USA Gymnastics would investigate third-party reports.
Sharp killed himself after being jailed in Indianapolis.
The old complaints came to light only after prosecutors subpoenaed organization records. James Bell of Spokane, Wash., had a sexual-misconduct complaint on file at least five years before his 2003 arrest for molesting three young gymnasts in Rhode Island. According to the Star, USA Gymnastics received at least four complaints about him starting in 1998, when one gym owner warned the organization in a letter that McCabe “should be locked in a cage before someone is raped”. Federal authorities say he began molesting a girl in 1999. He pleaded guilty in 2006 in Savannah, Ga., and is serving a 30-year sentence.
William “Bill” McCabe is now serving a 30-year sentence.
USA Gymnastics said it follows reporting laws and is doing enough to protect children.
In member publications, the organization describes its coaches and gyms as the “gold standard … a distinction that parents look for and depend upon”.
In its defense, USA Gymnastics said it was not responsible for McCabe’s actions.
“To allow this scum bag to continue working within the gymnastic community would be a bad insult to all of the gym owners and coaches who have worked so hard to build up the reputation of gymnastics”, Dickey wrote in his letter to USA Gymnastics.
In court testimony, Penny suggested USA Gymnastics was not obligated to pass allegations of sexual misconduct to authorities.
“To the best of my knowledge, there’s no duty to report if you are – if you are a third party to some allegation”, he said in a deposition a year ago.
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“My mom asked me, ‘did Jim ever touch you in your private parts?’ You know, I remember it like it was yesterday”, Brietzke said. The motion said she had a right to examine the records “to determine the credibility and accuracy of” that USA Gymnastics claim. Nonetheless, USA Gymnastics provided the Indianapolis Star with substantial information on its policies and procedures to demonstrate the organization’s commitment to the safety of its athletes within the scope of its jurisdiction and governance structure.
