This is horrifying. On the eve of the Olympic Games in Rio, The Indianapolis Star has dropped a comprehensive report showing that USA Gymnastics regularly ignored complaints of sexual misconduct against some of its coaches.
The Star found papers that show that the USAG, gymnastics’ national governing body, had compiled complaint files on more than 50 coaches, including Bill McCabe, who owned a gym in Savannah, Georgia. McCabe had had four complaints made against him, as early as 1996, but continued coaching for seven year—seven years!—until Lisa Ganser went to the FBI with sexually-explicit emails that were sent to her then-11-year-old-daughter.
Ganser’s daughter filed a lawsuit against both the USAG and McCabe in 2013.
Though the files are sealed as part of the lawsuit, which is ongoing, the Star shows that complaints against three other coaches were also ignored by USAG, which allowed the men to continue working with young gymnasts for years.
Robert Colarossi, a former USAG president, and Steve Penny, the organization’s current leader gave depositions where they explain some of their reasons for failing to report third-party allegations, which included complaints from gym owners and fellow coaches. These reasons include the possibility of a “witch hunt,” a competitive culture and also they just didn’t feel they needed to.
Said Penny: “to the best of my knowledge, there’s no duty to report if you are—if you are a third party to some allegation.”
The story and accompanying video is a grueling read, and goes deeply, not just into the lawsuit and the allegations, but also the impact of the abuse. Says Ganser of her daughter: “She’s still my quiet daughter who doesn’t trust people. She knows how the images, the video [McCabe] took of her, they can come back on any pedophile’s computer anywhere.”
“USAG failed at this,” she says. “It didn’t have to happen to my daughter, and it didn’t have to happen to other little girls.”