USA Gymnastics files shed new light on sex abuse scandal

SPRINGFIELD, Ga. - “Sexual abuse” was the subject line of an email that landed in a USA Gymnastics inbox on Aug. 17, 2005, sounding an alarm: “We have another one!”

Another coach had been convicted of molesting a girl, this time starting when she was 11. He spent only one day in jail, but was required to register as a sex offender.

The email expressed disappointment with the judge’s sentence, but hope that at least USA Gymnastics would terminate his membership.

USA Gymnastics revoked his membership — but it never let the public know. He was never placed on the organization' banned coaches list, leaving parents and gym owners in the dark.

That email was among more than 5,600 pages of USA Gymnastics records and depositions released to IndyStar on Friday after a lengthy court battle in Georgia. The documents, which include testimony from top USA Gymnastics officials and internal sexual abuse complaint files on 54 coaches, shed new light on the policies and practices that have contributed to the organization’s on-going sexual abuse scandal.

But much still remains hidden. Many names and other details were blacked out before the files were released to IndyStar. In some cases, entire pages were redacted. In one file, more than 175 consecutive pages were blacked out.

The documents were released by Effingham County Judge Ronald Thompson in response to a motion filed in June by IndyStar. USA Gymnastics fought the release for nearly nine months, including in two appeals to the Georgia Supreme Court, alleging IndyStar was on a "witch hunt."

In sworn depositions released Friday, USA Gymnastics officials who handle sexual abuse complaints acknowledged they had no legal or sex abuse training, yet would judge some complaints as hearsay based on the fact that they were not signed by a witness, victim or victim's parent.

The sex abuse complaint files revealed that some coaches weren't banned from the sport until years after USA Gymnastics discovered they were convicted of crimes against children.

In the case of John Wesley Mardis, the coach who prompted the email warning about another convicted molester, USA Gymnastics' complaint file included no mention of his termination. USA Gymnastics said Saturday that Mardis' membership was terminated after his 2005 conviction.

But his name was never published on the organization's banned list, leaving gym owners and parents unaware of his termination. He died in 2012. Mardis' name was among those redacted in the files.

The files contained letters to USA Gymnastics that showed how hard many other coaches fought to retain their membership — even after they were convicted of crimes against children — and often gained the support of gym owners, parents and gymnasts.

One file released Friday included a letter that said a USA Gymnastics regional chairman spoke with the organization's former president, Robert Colarossi, in support of allowing a convicted sex offender to keep his membership. That coach was eventually banned.

In the case of another former coach, James Bell, USA Gymnastics conducted a lengthy investigation and concluded he “exhibited a pattern of behavior" that included "inappropriate touching of students," but decided to put him on probation rather than terminating his membership. Court records indicate Bell molested young gymnasts while on probation. He was charged by police, banned by USA Gymnastics and later pleaded guilty.

In a sworn deposition, USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny acknowledged that the organization sometimes suspends coaches, but does not inform the public — even though he said there is nothing that prohibits the organization from publishing a list of suspended coaches. USA Swimming, for example, does publish such a list.

Many of the complaint files were related to coaches who were already the subject of criminal cases at the time the files were created. But in 2005, USA Gymnastics appears to be the first to receive a complaint accusing a coach — whose name was redacted — of having sex with two underage girls. USA Gymnastics told IndyStar they reported him to police, but the file contains no record of that report, and it is uncertain whether he is still coaching.

In a statement Friday, USA Gymnastics noted that it has banned 37 of the 54 coaches in the files, and 48 of the matters involved law enforcement.

“USA Gymnastics has been conducting an audit of its administrative files to determine what, if any, additional actions are necessary," the statement said.

“Keeping athletes safe requires sustained vigilance by everyone — coaches, athletes, parents, administrators and officials — and there is more work to be done. We recently initiated the most comprehensive, thorough and independent evaluation of our athlete safety program to date," the statement said. "This is a communitywide effort designed to examine the culture and generate recommendations that can help USA Gymnastics strengthen its efforts in this area."

USA Gymnastics has hired former federal prosecutor Deborah Daniels to review its policies and make recommendations for changes. It has also cited the pending opening of a U.S. Center for SafeSport as an example of progress being made on the issue of child sexual abuse in Olympic sports.

Some of the files USA Gymnastics compiled on member coaches were more than 300 pages long, spanning more than a decade, and including months-long internal investigations. Others contain only a few pages. Some incidents do not appear to have been investigated at all, and in other cases USA Gymnastics conducted investigations of people already convicted of crimes against children.

The names of 17 coaches were redacted. The court prohibited the release of the names of coaches who had not been criminally convicted, as well as the names of victims, gyms and people making reports about coaches. The redactions were made by attorneys for USA Gymnastics and agreed to by the judge.

Upon being provided a copy of the 317-page complaint file on her former coach Mark Shiefelbein, Illinois resident Becca Seaborn expressed outrage at the organization's approach to the problem of abuse. She was 10 when Shiefelbein started abusing her in 2001. USA Gymnastics had previously been aware of sexual harassment allegations against Shiefelbein and placed him on probation over a case of verbal and emotional abuse.

"USA Gymnastics failed in this situation," said Seaborn. "They had a gym owner who fired him say that he sexually harassed a gymnast! How is that not grounds for suspension alone? I can't believe that these things were not reported. I hope that things change drastically within USA Gymnastics and that sexual harassment and abuse allegations get reported to the police, because if they had, maybe it wouldn't have happened to me."

Another abuse survivor, Kaylin Maddox Brietzke, said she was horrified to learn that USA Gymnastics knew about the pattern of inappropriate conduct involving her former coach, Bell, yet allowed him to continue coaching. Bell was convicted in 2015 of molesting Brietzke and two other gymnasts in the early 2000s, while he was on probation with USA Gymnastics. She was 7.

“They knew and could have prevented it,” she said. “My life would have been so different. This situation has literally effected every aspect of my life from school to my relationship with my husband to my family life. Everything. They could have protected me but instead they had an instrumental part in allowing him to impact my life in so many negative ways.”

IndyStar typically does not name survivors of sexual abuse, but Seaborn and Brietzke offered to be identified.

An IndyStar investigation last year revealed four instances in which USA Gymnastics executives failed to alert authorities to allegations of child sexual abuse, and found more than 360 cases in which gymnasts accused their coaches of sexual misconduct over the last 20 years.

The investigation also emboldened more than 80 people to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against longtime USA Gymnastics team physician Dr. Larry Nassar. Nassar, who is facing criminal charges, has denied wrongdoing.

The coach misconduct files and depositions are part of the record in a Georgia lawsuit filed against USA Gymnastics. It was filed by a victim of former coach William McCabe, who was convicted in 2006 of sexual exploitation of children.

The “Jane Doe” lawsuit claims USA Gymnastics was negligent because it received four prior sexual abuse complaints about McCabe, but did not initiate a report to authorities. USA Gymnastics is fighting the suit, denying responsibility for the alleged criminal acts of others.

Those files cover a 10-year period — from 1996 to 2006, which is relevant to the lawsuit — and it's unclear how many coaches have been added to the sex abuse files since then.

“The release of the coaching complaint files and related depositions will show the world once and for all that USAG's policies and procedures put medals and sponsorships ahead of the safety of its member athletes," said W. Brian Cornwell, attorney for Jane Doe in the Georgia lawsuit. "The failure at all levels of the organization to protect its athletes against child molesting member coaches requires nothing less than a mandatory reporting requirement for anyone involved in the sport.”

In the wake of IndyStar's investigation, more than 50 women have also filed suit against USA Gymnastics in state and federal courts. The other suits include more than 30 former gymnasts, who claim USA Gymnastics was negligent in vetting and supervising Nassar. Nassar was not included in the files released Friday.

USA Gymnastics also has denied wrongdoing in relation to Nassar and emphasized that it reported him to the FBI.

Penny, the USA Gymnastics president, said in a deposition he was not aware of the amount of sexual abuse in the sport until 2005. “Prior to becoming CEO,” he said, “I had very little to any knowledge of this type of behavior.”

Colarossi, the former USA Gymnastics president, and Kathy Kelly, a longtime head of the women’s program who has since retired, testified that, despite their lack of expertise, they followed a rigid interpretation of USA Gymnastics rules.

The decision about whether to investigate a case or turn it over to police “was not based on training,” Colarossi said. “It was based on rules and policies we had in place at the time.”

"And what's right," Cornwell asked Kelly during a deposition, "setting aside the bylaws, what's right is if your organization gets a complaint about sexual misconduct of a professional coach with minor athletes is to investigate, that's what's right, isn't it?"

Her answer: "What's right, and we've covered this too, is what — how I have to conduct myself, and my professional responsibility is to follow the procedures of our bylaw. It's not my moral judgment."

Call IndyStar reporter Mark Alesia at (317) 444-6311. Follow him on Twitter: @markalesia

Call IndyStar reporter Marisa Kwiatkowski at (317) 444-6135. Follow her on Twitter: @IndyMarisaK.

Call IndyStar reporter Tim Evans at (317) 444-6204. Follow him on Twitter: @starwatchtim.

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