Sexual misconduct lawsuit is filed against Jean Lopez
Jean Lopez, the older brother and coach of twotime Olympic gold medalist Steven Lopez, was accused in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Colorado of sexual misconduct involving a female taekwondo athlete.
Heidi Gilbert, a 2002 Pan American Games gold medalist who briefly trained with the Lopez brothers at their Elite Taekwondo studio in Sugar Land, alleges that Jean Lopez gave her a drink at a party during a 2003 competition in Germany that caused her to slip toward unconsciousness.
She said the drink so incapacitated her that she was unable to prevent Jean Lopez from sexually assaulting her in the back seat of a taxicab as they left the party for the team’s hotel.
Similar events took place in Colorado, where the U.S. Olympic Training Center is located, Gilbert’s attorneys said in the lawsuit.
The suit accuses Jean Lopez of negligence by failing to live up to his duties as a USA Taekwondo coach to ensure Gilbert’s safety from sexual assault and abuse.
The U.S. Center for SafeSport earlier this month issued a lifetime ban to Jean Lopez that will prohibit him from association with Olympic sports in the United States. Lopez is appealing the decision.
Steven Lopez, meanwhile, is listed by SafeSport as being under interim restrictions while allegations against him are being investigated.
A similar lawsuit also was filed Wednesday against Steven Lopez by former taekwondo athlete Amber Means Randall. That suit, however, was dismissed voluntarily by Randall’s lawyer Thursday.
Steven Lopez, a fivetime world champion, won Olympic gold medals in taekwondo in 2000 and 2004 and a bronze medal in 2008.