UNITED STATES
WITW
November 26, 2018
The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) was made aware of sexual abuse in gymnastics as far back as the 1990s, according to recent court documents filed at the at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
As Reuters reports, former USA Gymnastics (USAG) President Kathy Scanlan said in a statement included in the filings that she had alerted the committee to the problem during her tenure at the head of the USAG, between 1994 to 1998. She claimed not only that “little was done” to deal with the sexual abuse, but also that the committee discouraged her from investigating and disciplining professional members who had been accused of sexual misconduct, according to The New York Times.
“USOC’s challenge to USAG disciplining professional members in this fashion (specifically impeding the ability to ban, suspend or investigate a member) would have inhibited me from adequately protecting minor members,” Scanlan said in the statement.
Her allegations have come to light as a result of a lawsuit filed by two-time Olympian Aly Raisman, who is suing USOC, USAG and Larry Nassar, the disgraced Olympic doctor who has been accused of sexual abuse by nearly 200 women and girls. Nassar is serving up to 125 years in prison on charges of criminal sexual misconduct and possession of child pornography.
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