SafeSports should change their practice of publicizing restriction and interim suspension on the accused until they complete their investigation. Instead they should inform the accused of the accusation and investigation, and warn the accused of severe civil and criminal punishment and prosecution if he continues the activities.
I think most accused would likely restrain their behaviors if the complaints are true because they now know their acts are no longer a secret and they are been watched and can get harsher punishments if continue. If it’s untrue it would protect the accused.
Edited I had a person on ignore.All people calling for keeping abuse quiet are hypocrites. While I feel sadness for the family, I feel anger that anyone would want abuse covered up because they like the accused. This is a disgusting mentality.
You are so right!!!!All people calling for keeping abuse quiet are hypocrites. While I feel sadness for the family, I feel anger that anyone would want abuse covered up because they like the accused. This is a disgusting mentality.
I know she's in mourning, and I do understand where she's coming from. That said, I would urge everyone to always ignore statements like: "I’ve known [x] for 20 plus years. [x] would never put a harmful hand on anyone, that is just simply not in his DNA."
These statements could have been said about any number of clergy or other individuals; statements like these are why we need Safesport, an independent body who can get to the truth - whatever that may be.
I also think it's important to remember that he was and still is innocent until proven guilty, and he was given due process. His own actions stopped the due process. Keeping all details silent until things are "proven beyond a reasonable doubt" (which takes time because of due process) are how predators like Nassar and the Catholic clergy continued to operate, despite the whispers. Coughlin himself wrote in his statement, “I note only that the SafeSport notice of allegation itself stated that an allegation in no way constitutes a finding by SafeSport or that there is any merit to the allegation."
I do agree with LarrySk8 that more needs to be done to help the accused deal with what has to be a terrible situation. I am truly sorry no one was able to help John.
…. and already people are accusing her of killing John (see Comments).
It does bring up the point that those accused have needs to be addressed (if guilty, they need help; if innocent, they need help and support).
It could be debated that SafeSport, as an organization reporting allegations and investigations only, is actually engaging in harmful behavior and possibly slander of those accused. SafeSport knows, even without proving anything other than an allegation was made and is to be investigated, will stop the accused from working and will ruin their personal reputation. Sounds slanderous. Sounds now like a potential litigious situation, as there are strong opinions on both sides.
Trials over slander by the press have taken place regularly, and especially in Britain some trials have been quite sensational over the years. Maybe someone has insight to share?
Is SafeSport now a potential target of litigation? Can any of the accused, if found not guilty of anything, sue them for slander? I bet we may see that in the future.
Side note - very curious indeed that Craig Maurizi, who tried to use SafeSport to indict Callaghan without too much success is the husband of Tara Modlin (the agent connected to Johnny Weir for the reality show), who was John Coughlin's agent. We all know Maurizi claimed years of sexual misconduct now over 20 years ago and came to notice during the #metoo movement. He has numerous contacts at SafeSport, and probably so does Tara Modlin.
There is an entire story with multiple facets and curiosities and tragedy here, and no one knows anything yet about any of the potential victims of abuse! That in and of itself is amazing.
Whatever he did och didn't do or whatever the reason for the suspension, it should have been handled differently. He should have been given enough qualified help to handle whatever his problems were. He must have been desperate if he saw no other way out than suicide. Poor guy!
I didn't know John's mother died in 2010. Were he and Caydee married? There's no info about it on his wiki.
http://www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/olympics/article/7247348/coughlin-denney-quite-pair
I just watched Caitlin&John's 2011 Nats Ave Maria FS and cried, so in case anybody else here feels like doing the same, here's the link: https://youtu.be/incIOswvkv0
It’s called due process! He was being forced to live like he was found guilty!!All people calling for keeping abuse quiet are hypocrites. While I feel sadness for the family, I feel anger that anyone would want abuse covered up because they like the accused. This is a disgusting mentality.
What a tragedy!
Isn't it amazing that people think due process and "innocent till found guilty" concepts do not apply in these cases. What higher purpose does it serve to make accusations public knowledge until they are proven to be true? The outcome of an investigation becomes irrelevant. The person is already convicted. They are guilty in the eyes of the public. Forever.It’s called due process! He was being forced to live like he was found guilty!!
Agreed, but while there is an investigation going on, this should not be made public for anyone to make a judgment based on specific information not known.All people calling for keeping abuse quiet are hypocrites. While I feel sadness for the family, I feel anger that anyone would want abuse covered up because they like the accused. This is a disgusting mentality.
Not going to happen. If further abuse happens after an organization is aware of damaging allegations, then they're responsible for it. The FBI also kept quiet during their Nassar investigation. More little girls were abused.
I hope there is more transparency in the future about the allegations towards Coughlin.
Transparency for the general public? Why do we need to know until the investigation is complete and all evidence one way or the other is known?
An important quote from her facebook post:
The problem is, until an investigation has been done, it is not necessarily abuse that is being covered up -- it is *allegations* of abuse. The whole point of an investigation is to determine if abuse has happened. Waiting for an investigation to be completed is not the same thing as covering up for known abusers.All people calling for keeping abuse quiet are hypocrites. While I feel sadness for the family, I feel anger that anyone would want abuse covered up because they like the accused. This is a disgusting mentality.