sexual abuse Page 3 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The <i>New York Times</i> Can't Bring Itself To Hold The USOC Accountable
In my time as a journalist, stories about child abuse have always been the one genre that everyone, even internet commenters, agree are bad. But preventing child abuse—which costs money and takes long-term dedication of resources—who has time for that? ...
Report: Pairs Skater John Coughlin Was Accused Of Sexual Misconduct With Minors
Yesterday it was reported that former pairs skater John Coughlin died by suicide a day after his interim suspension from SafeSport was announced, but there was no public comment about the nature of the allegations against him by either SafeSport or U.S. Figure Skating. ...
The USOC Should Be Abolished, Not Reformed
Earlier this week, more than two years after the Indianapolis Star reported the first allegations against former USA Gymnastics/Michigan State doctor Larry Nassar, Senator Cory Gardner, a Republican who represents Colorado, introduced the “Strengthening U.S. Olympics Act” to closely scrutinize the U...
The Next Step For Elite Gymnasts Is To Form A Union
At the beginning of November, the USOC announced that it was taking the first step towards decertifying USA Gymnastics. This was a direct if belated response to the national governing body having spent two years repeatedly failing in virtually every facet related to the Larry Nassar sex abuse scanda...
Prosecutor Releases Scathing Report On Michigan State's "Culture Of Indifference"<em></em>
On Friday morning, Michigan special prosecutor William Forsyth released a withering report, which you can read here, about Michigan State’s handling of years of sexual assault complaints against Larry Nassar. In the report, Forsyth blames MSU’s “culture of indifference and institutional protection” ...
Indiana's Attorney General Is Investigating USA Gymnastics
Indiana attorney general Curtis Hill filed a pair of limited objections today in USA Gymnastics’ ongoing bankruptcy case in federal court. The reason for the objections, implied by the filings and confirmed by the Indianapolis Star, is that his office is investigating the Indianapolis-based organiza...
Arbitrator Lifts Ban On Taekwondo Star Steven Lopez After Woman Who Accused Him Of Sexual Abuse Declines To Testify
Three-time Olympic taekwondo medalist Steven Lopez, whom the U.S. Center for SafeSport declared permanently ineligible because of “sexual misconduct involving a minor” in September, has been reinstated following an arbitration hearing, reports USA Today....
SafeSport, The Government's Attempt To Combat Athlete Abuse, Can't Use Its Grant Money To Investigate Athlete Abuse
The Associated Press reported yesterday that a federal grant designed to pay for SafeSport, the national organization created to combat abuse of athletes, won’t be usable for one of SafeSport’s biggest needs—hiring more investigators to handle incoming reports of abuse. ...
What Will It Take To Get Jim Jordan Out Of Congress?
LIMA, Ohio — Within five minutes of meeting Janet Garrett’s campaign team for the first time, I’m asked to help with their speaker set-up. The laptop audio playing the Spotify playlist is coming out of the projector, and they don’t know how to hook it up to the main speaker, where it would be louder...
Report: Former USA Gymnastics CEO Cozied Up To FBI To Save Face During Nassar Investigation
A day after former USA Gymnastics CEO Steve Penny was arrested following a grand jury indictment for tampering with evidence in the investigation of Larry Nassar, the New York Times has a new report detailing how Penny behaved with the FBI as its agents looked into reports from gymnasts about the fo...
Former USA Gymnastics CEO Steven Penny Indicted, Arrested For Tampering With Evidence In Larry Nassar Case
Former USA Gymnastics president and CEO Steve Penny has been arrested after a grand jury indicted him for tampering with evidence related to the investigation into years of sexual abuse of athletes by former national team doctor Larry Nassar, according to officials in Walker County, Texas. He was in...
Montana School District Denies It Knew About Athletic Trainer's Decades Of Sexual Abuse
The Miles City Unified School District in Montana has denied that it had any knowledge of sexual abuse carried out by James “Doc” Jensen, who was an athletic trainer at a Custer County high school from the early 1970s through 1998. The denial was in response to a lawsuit filed against the school dis...
Report: Aaron Hernandez Was Sexually Abused As A Boy
The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team just published the first part of a six-part series on the life of former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who died by suicide last spring in a Massachusetts prison. It’s a heartbreaking story that digs deeper into the foundational early years of Hernandez’s short...
Prosecutor In Farcical Brett Kavanaugh Hearing Was Part Of Same Office That Let Kevin Johnson Walk Away From Sex Abuse Charges
Rachel Mitchell, the GOP hired gun who shot blanks during last week’s Brett Kavanaugh hearing, told Republican senators immediately after the public fiasco (but before the FBI investigation had begun) that she would not have prosecuted the nominee for his alleged assault of Christine Blasey Ford....
Another Empty Congressional Hearing About Sexual Abuse In Sports Came And Went
With many of the cameras and reporters gone, the fourth Senate hearing about sexual abuse in Olympic sports took on a different tone. There was no yelling. There was no demanding of answers. CEOs of the organizations that oversee Olympic sports had a few chuckles. The grandstanding was gone, just th...
Second Lawsuit Says USA Diving Ignored Ongoing Sexual Abuse By A Coach
Another lawsuit was filed earlier this week against USA Diving, saying the organization ignored repeated reports by multiple divers of ongoing sexual abuse by a coach. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, also names an Indiana club known as RipFest Diving, the man who oversaw that club, former Olymp...
It’s Been Two Years Since Rachael Denhollander Took Her “Shot In The Dark”<em></em>
When I wrote about the first anniversary of Rachael Denhollander coming forward in the Indianapolis Star about how Larry Nassar sexually abused her under the guise of medical treatment, I struggled with the headline. I generally do, but the story kicked up a bit of a debate over whether the headline...
SafeSport Bans Taekwondo's Steven Lopez, But Will It Last?
The U.S. Center for SafeSport has banned three-time Olympic taekwondo medalist Steven Lopez, declaring him permanently ineligible earlier this week for “sexual misconduct involving a minor.” According to a copy of the notice of the director’s decision and other SafeSport records, which Deadspin revi...
Larry Nassar Loses Another Request For Resentencing
Disgraced former Michigan State and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar lost today on another one of his requests for a new sentencing hearing, this one in Eaton County, Mich. Like in the case filed against him in Ingham County, multiple women in Eaton said Nassar sexually abused them under the guise...
The Justice Department Is Investigating How The FBI Fucked Up Its Larry Nassar Investigation
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a probe into how the FBI mismanaged its investigation into sexual abuse allegations made against former Michigan State and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. Thiis comes after the FBI conducted its own inte...