Sex assault suit filed against OSU club, ex-coach, USA Diving
A fired Ohio State University Diving Club coach is accused of forcing a 16-yearold girl into a sexual relationship, according to a class-action lawsuit against the club, ex-coach William “Will” Bohonyi and the USA Diving organization.
The 16-year-old girl at a suburban Columbus high school in 2014 was a diver with Olympic dreams who had placed her trust in a coach with the Ohio State University Diving Club.
But that coach, William “Will” Bohonyi, now stands accused of forcing the girl into a sexual relationship, with many of the acts occurring on the Ohio State campus and in his car, according to a class-action lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
The Ohio State University Diving Club, USA Diving — the national organization based in Indianapolis that oversees the Olympic program — and Bohonyi are named as defendants in the suit filed on behalf of the girl and other, unnamed victims. The Dispatch is not naming the now 21-yearold woman because she is the alleged victim of sexual assault.
Bohonyi, 32, could not be reached for comment Monday.
In the suit, the Ohio State University Diving Club — considered one of the top junior diving programs in the U.S. — is accused of negligent supervision of Bohonyi. The university is also accused of coming into possession of hundreds of nude photos of the girl, which the suit claims is possession of child pornography.
But Ohio State says that when it became aware of Bohonyi’s conduct, he was immediately placed on administrative leave from his job as an assistant diving coach with the club on Aug. 19, 2014. Ten days later, he was fired, according to a statement from Benjamin Johnson, OSU spokesman.
“The university notified Franklin County Children Services, the Ohio State University Police Division (OSUPD), and USA Diving. OSUPD opened an investigation Aug. 19, 2014, and their investigation was closed at the request of the complainant,” OSU’s statement said.
Ohio State police reopened the investigation on Jan. 30, 2018, at the request of the victim. The investigation is pending as university police are working with the Franklin County prosecutor’s office, Johnson told The Dispatch.
The lawsuit says the relationship between Bohonyi and the teen girl was friendly at first, but then turned sexual when in July 2014 the coach pressured her to send naked photographs of herself to him.
It was in mid-July 2014, as Bohonyi was supervising the diving club on a road trip at the junior nationals competition in Bethesda, Maryland, that he and the girl first engaged in intercourse, according to the suit.
A teammate became alarmed when she saw cellphone messages between her friend and Bohonyi, the lawsuit states, and in August 2014 the friend told the head diving club coach, John Appleman, about her concerns during a meet in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The suit accuses the university of sending the victim — not Bohonyi — home from that meet.
Even after Bohonyi was fired by Ohio State that month, he was still a member in good standing with USA Diving, the suit says.