NEW YORK
New York Daily News
BY MICHAEL O’KEEFFE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, April 20, 2015
Andy Gabel had represented the United States in three Olympics and won a silver medal in the 5,000-meter short track relay at the 1994 Lillehammer Games when he moved to Saratoga Springs to train for the 1998 Olympic trials. Gabel, then 33, was already an icon in the sport – especially to a local high school kid who hoped to compete against the world’s very best.
Bridie Farrell was 15 years old and a promising junior skater when Gabel moved to her hometown, and she admits she was “starstruck” by Gabel, especially after he took an interest in her budding career.
Gabel drove her to the practice rink at 5 a.m. every morning, taught her how to properly sharpen and align her skates and even gave her tips on technique, Farrell says. Gabel also repeatedly molested Farrell over the course of several months in 1997 and 1998 she adds a secret she kept for years. Gabel later acknowledged he had an “inappropriate relationship with a female teammate.”
“I didn’t think anybody would believe me if I came forward,” Farrell says. “He was getting ready for his fourth Olympics and I was a nobody and that was my mindset. It is a lot for a kid to carry.”
Farrell is unable to pursue criminal prosecution or a civil lawsuit against Gabel because New York statute of limitations on sex abuse cases bars victims from bringing charges after their 23rd birthday. That is why she will join other sexual abuse survivors and their advocates in Albany on Wednesday to lobby state lawmakers to approve the Child Victims Act.
The bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens) calls for the elimination of criminal and civil statutes of limitations for future child abuse victims; it would also open up a one-year window for victims of past crimes to pursue criminal and civil cases. Markey has asked Pope Francis to meet with survivors of childhood sexual abuse when he visits New York in September. She’s also asked the pope persuade the New York Catholic Conference of Bishops to drop its opposition to her bill.
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