Report finds sex abuse policies muddled
For years, USA Gymnastics felt it aggressively safeguarded hundreds of thousands of athletes from sexual abuse. Yet the protocols designed to show gymnasts, coaches, staff and parents how to report abuse were muddled, confusing and not well enforced.
The fallout, according to a former federal prosecutor hired to independently review the organization’s handling of abuse cases, was “inadvertent suppression” and a culture that emphasized performance over protection.
“There needs to be a clear articulation that the culture is athlete safety first, not just success on the field,” Deborah Daniels said Tuesday after releasing her lengthy report. “It needs to start with the board (of directors) and needs to permeate through the entire organization.”
Daniels laid out 70 recommendations — all unanimously adopted by the board Monday night — aimed at giving USA Gymnastics more power to monitor the safety of 200,000-plus athletes affiliated with member gyms.
“We want to prevent abuse,” Daniels said. “We know there will still be abuse occurring, (but we) want to make sure reporting and handling of report is done as well as possible.”
USA Gymnastics ordered the review last fall following a series of civil lawsuits filed against the organization and a former team doctor by a pair of gymnasts who claim the physician sexually abused them during their time on the U.S. national team. USA Gymnastics has denied wrongdoing. The organization stated it went to authorities quickly in the summer of 2015 after hearing claims of abuse against Dr. Larry Nassar but later amended the timeline following a Wall Street Journal report, saying it conducted a five-week internal review before going to the FBI.
A Michigan judge on Friday separately ordered Nassar to stand trial on charges of sexually assaulting six young gymnasts who said he molested them while they sought treatment for injuries. It is one of four criminal cases against Nassar in the state. The longtime Michigan State University doctor is a defendant or co-defendant in numerous civil suits.
John Manly, a California-based attorney whose firm is representing more than 100 alleged victims of abuse by Nassar, called the report “a public relations facade.”
“The report calls for a change in culture but those who created the toxic culture remain in charge of the organization,” Manly said. “The lack of any real investigation, facts or accountability for those who failed thousands of boys and girls victimized by Nassar and others in the report is disturbing.”