Former gymnastics chief charged with tampering

Steve Penny, the former president and chief executive of USA Gymnastics, was arrested Wednesday on a felony charge of evidence tampering in a Texas investigation into sexual abuse accusations against Larry Nassar, the imprisoned former doctor for the national gymnastics team.

A grand jury in Walker County, Texas, indicted Penny on Sept. 28 on allegations that he ordered the removal of documents from a national team training center in the county after learning that an investigation had begun into Nassar’s behavior at the site.

If convicted, Penny could face two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to a statement from the district attorney’s office in Walker County.

The gymnastics federation has had two chief executives since Penny resigned under pressure in March 2017, and both were also forced out. The latest replacement, Mary Bono, stepped aside from her interim appointment Tuesday after holding the job less than a week.

The statement said Penny had ordered the removal of the documents “for the purpose of impairing the ongoing investigation.”

Penny, who lives in a suburb of Indianapolis, was arrested by U.S. marshals in Tennessee and was awaiting extradition to Texas, according to the statement from the district attorney’s office.

“Mr. Penny is confident that when all the facts are known the allegations against him will be disproven,” said a statement by Leigh Robie, one of his lawyers.

The training center, about 60 miles north of Houston, is owned by Bela and Martha Karolyi, who are among the most prominent coaches in gymnastics history.

At a national team training camp there in 2015, a coach overheard a gymnast saying that Nassar had touched her inappropriately. Penny was informed, but USA Gymnastics decided to investigate the case internally and waited five weeks before notifying the FBI.

Nassar, who has been accused of abusing hundreds of girls and women, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison early this year.