Keeping Track of Criminal Cases & SafeSport Suspensions in Skating

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1
It’s different in many ways! A white woman was calling the cops on a black man. You know why that’s different than using some stereotypes in a chat.
I don't disagree that there's a difference, but diminishing the danger and harm of using slurs and racialized language by calling them "some stereotypes in a chat" is not helpful, and is perpetuating that harm. Particularly with anti-Asian racism, the minimizing of racist language is rampant and dismisses the very real fear that it will escalate into physical violence. Not to mention the fact that the stuff in that screenshot was a combination of sexualized and racialized violence against Asian women.

Also, would really love to just generally not compare different forms of racism as if we're saying one group has it worse than another. We can both condemn the violence of the white woman calling the cops on a black man, and condemn the violence of anti-Asian slurs.
 

Japanfan

Well-Known Member
Messages
25,532
Why are people always so eager to make excuses for men behaving badly at the expense of children?

I don't know about that. But women will also blame women who are victim to harassment and rape. In that case, I believe it may be because women want to feel in control, which enables them to believe that they will not be harassed or raped themselves.

I remember having an argument with my MIL some years ago about cases in which women who dress provocatively get harassed or raped. MIL believed they have it coming to them, and both Mr. Japanfan and I took her on.

Ultimately, such a view is anti-woman. IMHO.
 

Yazmeen

All we are saying, is give peace a chance
Messages
5,835
I don't disagree that there's a difference, but diminishing the danger and harm of using slurs and racialized language by calling them "some stereotypes in a chat" is not helpful, and is perpetuating that harm. Particularly with anti-Asian racism, the minimizing of racist language is rampant and dismisses the very real fear that it will escalate into physical violence. Not to mention the fact that the stuff in that screenshot was a combination of sexualized and racialized violence against Asian women.
THIS. I grew up with parents and an aunt who were VERY racist, and they didn't even think about what they were saying, it was so ingrained - believe it or not, their favorite TV show was "The Jeffersons," but my aunt would routinely call to my mother, "Betty, hurry, the N-words are coming on!!!" And my father rationalized it because he claimed he and the other kids of Slovak immigrants were routinely picked on in their Catholic neighborhood by the children of the Irish and Italian immigrants. Every time a new ethnicity moved in, they were the new targets, and the last target would join the bullies.

One of the sad American traditions is growing up being taught to (borrowing from "South Pacific"), "hate all the people your relatives hate." Too often now, those "stereotypes in a chat" lead to violence by people who are mainly fearful of having their own power, rights, and importantly, self-imagined rank and superiority taken away by allowing others to flourish and live well.


For the record on this song (from Wikipedia): "At the heart of this scene is Cable's song "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught", in which Cable realizes the sources of his own racism. Its frank lyrics made it perhaps the most controversial element of the show. Michener recalled in his memoirs that a delegation of New Englanders had approached him after a New Haven tryout and urged him to recommend the song's removal to Rodgers and Hammerstein. When Michener told Hammerstein, he laughed and replied, "That's what the show is about!"

You can imagine the reaction down South...
 
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Sylvia

TBD
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79,981
[Luka] KLASINC, 48, of Slovenia, is charged with one count of bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, and with one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two-year prison term. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Ashley C. Nicolas is in charge of the prosecution.

Reuters article:
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A former Slovenian figure skater who competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics has been criminally charged in Manhattan with fraudulently raising $1.6 million meant to help small U.S. businesses cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday charged Luka Klasinc, 48, with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft related to his alleged use of falsified documents. The fraud count carries a maximum 30-year prison term. [...]
Klasinc flew in from Istanbul on May 31 and visited the bank three times to access the funds but was denied, and the bank alerted law enforcement, prosecutors said.
The bank has returned $848,383 from the BOB77 accounts to the SBA, prosecutors added.
Klasinc was arrested on Monday, when prosecutors said he was scheduled to return to Istanbul.
“At a time when U.S. small businesses were struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Klasinc thought he could scam his way to easy money,” U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan said in a statement. “His plans have been put on ice.”
Klasinc competed in men’s singles figure skating at the Olympics in Albertville, France, but did not reach the free skate.
Luka Klasinc finished 26th in the Men's event in Albertville.
 
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livetoskate

Well-Known Member
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2,005
The "Method" guys will probably just not say anything. What can you really say? Miner's posts were indefensible. They sounded like words from an adolescent. My whole life I've been called a "fkcking faggot" and had to listen to descriptions of sexual acts that follow by these losers. Miner sounds like he's of the same ilk. He sounds incredibly immature, and has a juvenile mind. I mean, coaching was to be his career, and he couldn't keep his childish mouth closed on his anti-Asian prejudices? Does he not know his "audience" in skating? It would be like a medical professional attacking Asians or Indians based on their race. Obviously this career is not for him if he can't be civil to others. He's 30 damn years old. Skating might be a bubble, but it is a bubble that has numerous Asians in it. And friends/allies of Asians. It will be interesting to see who he still coaches in six months. I would say he successfully burned that bridge. Who would even take from someone like him? Bye, Ross, you have been cancelled due to your own disgusting self and behavior.
I totally agree. I wonder how his former Asian American teammates and training mates feel, having heard of these immature & offensive remarks made by him. Ross, in my mind, is totally canceled in the sport. I never really cared for his skating anyway.
 

Brenda_Bottems

Banned Member
Messages
796
He's Slovenian, not Slovakian. But at least he's real (unlike certain posters), and that does count for something.
Defending a man who defrauded American taxpayers of a million dollars? Quite the colossal kneejerk liberal reaction—entirely on brand and as predictable as ever,my dear.

-BB
 

Artistic Skaters

Drawing Figures
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8,150
Updating this here because it involves a criminal case. The article says the coach is already on an interim suspension by SC:
Members of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary arrested Matthew Power, a native of Marystown now living in paradise, Wednesday evening and charged him with sexual assault, sexual interference, child luring and making sexually explicit material available to a child. Power was released on conditions and is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 21, 2021.

Police say the investigation by its Child Abuse & Sexual Assault Uni (CASA) that led to the charges against Power began in January when they received a complaint of sexual misconduct.
 

overedge

Mayor of Carrot City
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35,792
Just a small correction to the linked story. He is not living in "paradise" but in Paradise, a town in Newfoundland & Labrador near St. John's.

This is what happens when newspapers outsource their editing to a third-party provider outside the country....
 
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overedge

Mayor of Carrot City
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35,792
I didn't recognize one of the names on the suspended list - David Janick - but this document online has an earlier version of the same list (on the last page), which shows him as having an interim suspension starting in June 2019, with no end date: https://www.olympiakomitea.fi/uploads/2020/01/259d7332-case-canada.pdf

The current version of the list, that @greenapple linked to above, shows him as having an interim suspension starting in June 2021, with no end date. If he was already suspended for an indefinite period, why would he need to be suspended again?
 

greenapple

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,145
I didn't recognize one of the names on the suspended list - David Janick - but this document online has an earlier version of the same list (on the last page), which shows him as having an interim suspension starting in June 2019, with no end date: https://www.olympiakomitea.fi/uploads/2020/01/259d7332-case-canada.pdf

The current version of the list, that @greenapple linked to above, shows him as having an interim suspension starting in June 2021, with no end date. If he was already suspended for an indefinite period, why would he need to be suspended again?
Maybe he was reinstated and suspended again? I don't know if this is the same person but in 1999 there was a junior ice dancer of the same name.
 

Sylvia

TBD
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79,981
Vincent Van Vliet (a competitive skater from the 1990s) pleaded guilty to a grand larceny charge regarding almost $100,000 by altering check amounts from one of his skating students. :(
Update on his case:
An ice skating instructor who stole nearly $100,000 from a student was sentenced to three years of probation, the Erie County District Attorney's Office announced Monday.
Former competitive professional skater Vincent Van Vliet, 42, was sentenced Friday afternoon before State Supreme Court Justice Mark A. Montour after pleading guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny April 13.
Van Vliet, of Lima in Livingston County, south of Rochester, admitted in April that he stole a total of $98,958 from a client while working as an ice skating instructor between Dec. 1, 2018 and Dec. 1, 2019.
When he pleaded guilty, Van Vliet paid full restitution to the victim, the District Attorney's Office said. He had faced a maximum of up to four years in prison.
 

MacMadame

Doing all the things
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58,281
Dutch name, but not a Dutchman. Bad man too, for stealing. Of course, should be punished. But, am I alone in thinking stealing (though it is very wrong) is less of a crime than abuse?
I don't like to rank them. It depends on so many factors.

I'm glad he made restitution but I wonder how he managed it.
 

Carolla5501

Well-Known Member
Messages
7,132
I don't like to rank them. It depends on so many factors.

I'm glad he made restitution but I wonder how he managed it.
If you are his student check your bank account. I once found a woman stealing from residents at a nursing home to pay restitution to other residents of another nursing home.... After the second occurrence she went to jail instead of on probation.
 

Brenda_Bottems

Banned Member
Messages
796
But, am I alone in thinking stealing (though it is very wrong) is less of a crime than abuse?
I am afraid you are alone on this one,my dear.

What is the source of this sudden surge in figure skating criminality? This is not the same sport I knew in the 80s and 90s.

-BB
 

Lemonade20

If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
Messages
2,379
I am afraid you are alone on this one,my dear.

What is the source of this sudden surge in figure skating criminality? This is not the same sport I knew in the 80s and 90s.

-BB

Social media has made it easier for people to have a voice and to share their stories. That's why we're seeing more and more dirt come out.
 

MacMadame

Doing all the things
Messages
58,281
I am afraid you are alone on this one,my dear.

What is the source of this sudden surge in figure skating criminality? This is not the same sport I knew in the 80s and 90s.

-BB
Of course it is. Are you forgetting about people like Richard Callaghan, David Lowry, the skater who got drunk at a comp and stole a car, and don't forget Oksana Baiul and Rudy Galindo's DUI arrests.
 

overedge

Mayor of Carrot City
Messages
35,792
It is the same sport. But in the 80s and 90s there were very few formal ways to report abuse, and those that existed weren't very effective (as Craig Maurizi found out when he tried to complain to USFSA about Richard Callaghan). And abusive behaviour by coaches was more likely to be regarded as, well, s/he is just tough, and skaters who complained were wimps who didn't want to work hard or who had some other motivation to get back at the coach.
 

Vagabond

Well-Known Member
Messages
25,381
Of course it is. Are you forgetting about people like Richard Callaghan, David Lowry, the skater who got drunk at a comp and stole a car, and don't forget Oksana Baiul and Rudy Galindo's DUI arrests.
IINM, the poster in question was just a gleam in her writer's eye back then. ;)

If she really was around at back in 1994, then her memory must be failing badly. 😟 Otherwise, she would remember Tonya Harding and the whack! :scream:

Be that as it may, Andrei Lutai's infamous scenic drive in the Adirondacks was at Skate America in 2009.


Other infamous events from the '00's:

Harding pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting her boyfriend.

The USFSA banned former U.S. Men's Champion Gordon McKellen for events that probably happened in the 1990's.

Former Men's Olympic Champion was convicted of plotting a kidnap.

There were some nasty figure skaters back in the day, and I don't think anything has changed except that it's harder to escape punishment and unfavorable publicity.
 

Sparks

Well-Known Member
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14,983
Maxim Stavinski

On 5 August 2007, Maxim Staviski caused a car accident in Primorsko, Bulgaria, which killed 24-year-old Petar Petrov and left Petrov's fiancée, 18-year-old Manuela Gorsova, in a coma.[19][20][21] Staviski had a blood alcohol content of 1.1‰ while the legal limit in Bulgaria is 0.5‰.[22] Staviski's Hummer collided into the victims' Honda at a speed of 100 km/h. He had been pulled over and issued a police warning a few minutes earlier.

 

ЭPiKUilyam

Banned Member
Messages
1,333
Of course it is. Are you forgetting about people like Richard Callaghan, David Lowry, the skater who got drunk at a comp and stole a car, and don't forget Oksana Baiul and Rudy Galindo's DUI arrests.
Didn't an American pair skater get beat up and robbed in Moscow while trying to procure a Russian prostitute? Illegal drugs were involved too IINM. I think he's also had a couple other run ins with the arm of justice.
 

Sylvia

TBD
Messages
79,981
IF it's Bill Coyle, he's a coach in Florida.

ETA:

Persons Suspended Pending Final Hearing Panel Or U.S. Center For SafeSport Determination
Considering the nature of the charges and information provided with either the Grievance Statement or action taken by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, in accordance with the authority provided to the U.S. Figure Skating Ethics Committee Rule (ECR) 3.04 and pending a hearing contemplated by Article XXV, Section 1(B), or an action of the U.S. Center for SafeSport (Article XXV, Section 2) of the U.S. Figure Skating Bylaws, effective as of the date shown, membership in U.S. Figure Skating is suspended.

William Coyle

On July 20, 2021, the U.S. Center for SafeSport issued the following Sanction regarding William Coyle:

Sanction: Temporary Suspension. Beginning on July 20, 2021, William Coyle is prohibited from participating, in any capacity, in any event, program, activity, or competition authorized by, organized by, or under the auspices of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), the National Governing Bodies recognized by the USOPC, a Local Affiliated Organization as defined by the Code, any High Performance Management Organization (HPMO), or at the facility under the jurisdiction of the same.

Pursuant to U.S. Figure Skating Bylaw Article XXV, Section 2, U.S. Figure Skating hereby adopts the Sanction imposed by the Center temporarily suspending William Coyle effective July 20, 2021.
 

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