Report on Sexual Abuse in U.S.A. Gymnastics Urges ‘Culture Change’
U.S.A.
Gymnastics, the national governing body of the sport, said on Tuesday
that it was adopting new recommendations intended to safeguard its
athletes, after reports last year that it had routinely failed to notify
law enforcement officials about allegations of sexual abuse by its
coaches.
“Even
one instance of child abuse is one too many,” said Paul Parilla, the
chairman of the governing body in a statement published on Tuesday along
with details of 70 new recommendations.
“U.S.A. Gymnastics is very sorry that anyone has been harmed during his
or her gymnastics career, and we offer our deepest regrets to any
athlete who suffered abuse or mistreatment while participating in the
sport.”
The report was prompted by an investigation published by the Indianapolis Star last year. The newspaper had uncovered four instances
in which gymnastics officials were warned about suspected abuse by
coaches but did not alert the authorities, and it said the coaches had
gone on to abuse at least 14 underage gymnasts.
Late
last year, U.S.A. Gymnastics commissioned a former federal child sexual
abuse prosecutor, Deborah J. Daniels, to conduct an independent review
of its policies. During the review, Ms. Daniels and her researchers from
Praesidium, a company that specializes in preventing sexual abuse in
organizations that serve youth and vulnerable adults, carried out more
than 160 interviews with people in the gymnastics community; visited 25
clubs and the National Team Training Center; and attended competitions
and camps through last month.
The result of that work was released online in a 100-page report on
Tuesday, along with the recommendations, which the governing body’s
board of directors said it would adopt to prevent abuse and streamline
its policies governing the way it handles reports of it.
They include
prohibiting adults from being alone with minor gymnasts, including
sleeping in a hotel room. Adults will also be prohibited from having
out-of-program contact with gymnasts via email, text or social media.
While
U.S.A. Gymnastics already had some regulations in place, the report
said the organization, which oversees the sport in the United States and
sets rules and policies for athletes and coaches, needed to put in
place what it called a “culture change” in the way it does so.
The
recommendations were broken down into 10 areas, including
administrative management; education, training and athlete support;
reporting of suspected violations; and screening and selection of
coaches, volunteers and other adults with access to athletes. The report
recommended that it needed to be specific about prohibited behavior, by
defining “appropriate” and “inappropriate” conduct in member clubs and
by individuals who work with the athletes.
“Most
member clubs do not have written guidelines regarding appropriate and
inappropriate physical and verbal interactions,” the report said.
It
noted in particular how the reporting of alleged abuse has been
hampered by the relationship between an athlete and an adult who might
have control over his or her career. For example, the report said U.S.A
Gymnastics’s procedures for reporting suspected sexual abuse was in the
form of a written grievance process by parents and the athletes that was
aimed at dispute resolution.
“Young
athletes (in their teens or younger) and their parents are highly
unlikely to report ongoing abuse to the authority that has so much power
over the athlete’s success in the sport,” the report said.
But
a big problem is the gymnastics community has been its decentralized
nature. Clubs are private businesses, which makes tracking the behavior
of coaches uneven if he or she moves to another. “If a club’s management
is vigilant, it will check references as well as conduct a background
check,” the report said. But those only reveal any criminal convictions,
meaning that a new club may not find out about prior abuse or grooming
activity.
The abuse charges have put the gymnastics federation under a shadow, particularly last year, when
The Star reported revealed that U.S.A. Gymnastics had kept files of
complaints involving more than 50 coaches suspected of abusing athletes,
yet in many cases failed to alert law enforcement of possible
wrongdoing. One of them was a longtime doctor for the American gymnastics team,
Lawrence G. Nassar, who was charged in February with 22 charges of
first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving at least seven victims.
Ms.
Daniels’s report also said one coach accused of abuse had worked in at
least 12 clubs in four states. “He left a trail of anguish in his path,
in the form of over 15 abused girls whose lives were forever damaged —
but clubs continued to hire him, either because they were unaware of the
abuse or, in the case of at least one club, reportedly knew but
promised to ‘watch’ him.”
Stephen
Drew, a Michigan lawyer who represents gymnasts who allege they were
abused by Dr. Nassar and emboldened to come forward after the Star
report, said some of the new recommendations, such as immediate
reporting of suspected abuse, were already law.
But
he said the recommendations should be used to create “a clear protocol
to document and investigate past abuse complaints — and to initially
believe the person.”
“It
is hard enough for people to come forward and make a complaint like
this,” Mr. Drew added. “Every sign should indicate ‘we are taking this
seriously.’”