Human trafficking charges novel approach in Geddert case
The human trafficking case brought against a former U.S. Olympics women’s gymnastics coach hours before he killed himself could signal a new approach to policing a sport already dogged by a far-reaching sexual abuse scandal involving a onetime team doctor.
John Geddert, the head coach of the 2012 U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team, killed himself Thursday hours after prosecutors charged him with 24 counts accusing him of turning his once-acclaimed Michigan gym into a hub of human trafficking by coercing girls to train there and then abusing them — one sexually.
Although Geddert was charged with sexually assaulting one teenager and he worked closely with Larry Nassar, the imprisoned
sports doctor who sexually abused hundreds of women and girls under the guise it was treatment, the bulk of the case against Geddert was for human trafficking — a charge that even the state’s top law enforcement official acknowledged might not fit the common understanding of such a case.
“We think of it predominantly as affecting people of color or those without means to protect themselves ... but honestly it can happen to anyone, anywhere,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Thursday. “Young impressionable women may at times be vulnerable and open to trafficking crimes, regardless of their stature in the community or the financial well-being of their families.”
Lawyers for women who accused Geddert and Nassar of abuse say Nassar’s imprisonment and Geddert’s death won’t resolve some of the serious issues that have plagued the sport. But they lauded the attorney general’s office for bringing the trafficking case against the 63-year-old Geddert, who was charged with making money through the forced labor of young athletes.