Keeping Track of Criminal Cases & SafeSport Suspensions in Skating

[twizzletoes76]

Will choreographers who deliberately give skaters bad choreography also receive a SafeSport violation?
Or designers who deliberately make skaters look horrible with bad costumes also receive a SafeSport violation?

That's really not funny, given the mental and physical abuse of athletes that SafeSport investigates.

Agreed—that comment was in poor taste as it negates the seriousness of the types of crimes Safesport investigates.

As for choreographers who do bad choreography and designers who do bad designs—we can give them FSU violations—but that’s it.

 

[barbk]

Peter Oppegard was suspended.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1521216781901250561

A one month suspension for BITING a student? Is a slap worth more than a bite? Less? How about a kick? What a ridiculously short penalty for physical assault, especially assault on a skater who was a minor at that point.

 

[once_upon]

A month? That's outrageous.

Toddlers in day care get kicked out of day care and parents are left trying to find new day cares for biting.

 

[tylersf]

That's really not funny, given the mental and physical abuse of athletes that SafeSport investigates.

Clothing/costumes have been known to cause mental anxiety...

Don't Let Your Crew be BOO-ed

6 Costumes that Perpetuate Unhealthy Relationship Behaviors ‘Tis the season for cozy sweaters, all things pumpkins and Hocus Pocus on repeat (all day, e’ry day). If you’re anything like me, you’re also meticulously plotting your Halloween costume and trying to figure out the maximum number of...

www.joinonelove.org

 

[Sylvia]

Sylvia posted that article by ESPN a few months ago about the struggles of SafeSport that noted almost half the decisions are being overturned or reduced on appeal, often due to technicalities and other questionable reasons. While that continues to be the case, at least posting an interim ruling serves as a notification by default. If advocating for the safety of athletes is the priority, it's a workaround that would help them make informed decisions.

Link to my post with relevant excerpts from the article that was published in February: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...nsions-in-skating.105778/page-13#post-6217992

ETA another related thread in GSD:

Skate Canada Refused to Announce Kerry Leitch's Removal from HoF, Declines to Remove Eisler

:rolleyes: https://www.tsn.ca/skate-canada-criticized-for-refusing-to-publicize-coach-s-ouster-from-hall-of-fame-1.1794012

www.fsuniverse.net

 

[Judy]

In Canada, there have now been enough complaints about sport organizations investigating themselves (and doing a crap job of it) that the federal government is setting up an independent investigative body similar to SafeSport. The head of it - the "sport integrity commissioner" - has just been appointed.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/former-artistic-swimmer-pelletier-named-canada-s-first-sport-integrity-commissioner-1.6409749

Also, a group of sport researchers is asking the federal sports minister to review the Own The Podium program, on the basis that using medals as the main measure of performance leads to unhealthy training environments. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/former-ar...-first-sport-integrity-commissioner-1.6409749

Ugh no! My niece works for Own the Podium. She says they are amazing to work for. We might as well eliminate competing and winning in every coached sport then.

 

[Lemonade20]

Skate Canada is such a hot mess.

 

[Lanja]

Own the Podium could be a great place to work with awesome colleagues and fantastic perks and still be promoting an unhealthy philosophy.

My husband used to work for an oil services company. It was by far and away his favourite workplace. The products that he worked on are used every day to destroy our planet.

 

[Sylvia]

"A federal judge is allowing a former competitive figure skater’s [Maurizi] lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by his skating coach [Callaghan] that started during the 1970s in Buffalo to proceed against the Buffalo Skating Club." (Buffalo, NY article, May 16):

Judge denies Buffalo Skating Club's bid to dismiss abuse lawsuit by former figure skater

Two years ago, Craig Maurizi filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, claiming that from 1976 to 1986, beginning at age 13, he suffered sexual abuse by his

buffalonews.com

A message left with a lawyer representing the Buffalo Skating Club was not returned.
Callaghan, who was a coach at the Buffalo Skating Club from 1976 to 1981, said in an affidavit filed with the court that “I have a meritorious defense to this action and deny the allegations asserted by Craig Maurizi.”
Last year, U.S. Figure Skating, the governing body of the sport, agreed to pay $1.45 million to settle a lawsuit from another figure skater [Adam Schmidt] who claimed he was sexually assaulted many times as a teenager in a Detroit ice rink by Callaghan, now 75.

ETA - article from July 2020 when the original federal civil action was filed in Buffalo by Maurizi:

Figure skating coach Richard Callaghan sued by former athlete, alleging sexual abuse and coverup

Defendants include three governing bodies, accused for turning a blind eye to rampant misconduct.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Artistic Skaters]

Update to a case previously discussed:

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/05/18/former-central-florida-figure-skating-coach-pleads-guilty-to-sex-battery-of-student/

A former Central Florida figure skating coach pleaded guilty to sexually battering a former student when she was just 12 years old. Andrei Berekhovski admitted he was one of the child’s primary caretakers when he sexually battered her back in 2005.

Berekhovski faced 30 years in prison for his crime, but Judge Renee Roche accepted a plea deal for three years behind bars with credit for time served if Berekhovski pleaded guilty to one of three sexual battery counts. The former coach will also register as a sexual predator and surrender both his Russian and U.S. passports.

News 6 learned that a second woman came forward with allegations of abuse by Berekhovski after the initial story went public. However, as part of the plea agreement, the court will not be allowed to bring forth any additional charges related to the second woman.

 

[misskarne]

So a disgustingly minimal three years, with credit for time served, and he completely gets away with abusing the second woman.

What the fcuk?

 

[Judy]

Own the Podium could be a great place to work with awesome colleagues and fantastic perks and still be promoting an unhealthy philosophy.

My husband used to work for an oil services company. It was by far and away his favourite workplace. The products that he worked on are used every day to destroy our planet.

Own the Podium works with coaches only .. my convo dates back to early Dec with my niece .. but it’s a structured plan to get an athlete to the next step. If you won a bronze then the goal is silver etc. however, it is more complicated and detailed then what I’m capable of explaining. They aren’t abusing the athletes.

 

[antmanb]

Own the Podium works with coaches only .. my convo dates back to early Dec with my niece .. but it’s a structured plan to get an athlete to the next step. If you won a bronze then the goal is silver etc. however, it is more complicated and detailed then what I’m capable of explaining. They aren’t abusing the athletes.

We know there is a problem with figure skating coaching and the unhealthy things are being promoted, from eating disorders, to abusive coaching situations, deification of male partners that leads to further abusive situations.

The coaches are the ones responsible for this, so it isn’t some giant leap of logic to think people who only work with coaches might be part of the same problem. Obviously not all coaches are bad but to think this organisation is completely blameless just because they don’t work with skaters doesn’t sound right to me.

 

[nikjil]

Update to a case previously discussed:

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/05/18/former-central-florida-figure-skating-coach-pleads-guilty-to-sex-battery-of-student/

Disgusting! I know these deals spare the victim from testifying and avoid juries who can be tricky with these case but three years is ridiculous!

 

[barbk]

Disgusting! I know these deals spare the victim from testifying and avoid juries who can be tricky with these case but three years is ridiculous!

I wrote to our DA when the newspaper recently reported that two of the adults in a theft troika responsible for >$100K in porch piracy plus multiple auto thefts were given probation rather than jail time. He nicely wrote back and invited me to meet with him. I'm going to do that. I accept that plea bargains are the norm and that the system would collapse without them, but it increasingly feels like they have totally left the idea of punishment behind. Judges, too:

• https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-sentences-admitted-rapist-probation-prison-time/story?id=81264495
• https://people.com/crime/illinois-judge-reverses-mans-rape-conviction-at-sentencing-hearing/
• https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/clarissajanlim/bowen-turner-rape-victims-south-carolina

 

[overedge]

There is a new suspension listed on Safesport:

Christopher Young

Houston

TX

U.S. Figure Skating

Allegations of Misconduct

Temporary Suspension

05/17/2022

U.S. Center for SafeSport

 

[overedge]

The Canadian Office of Sport Integrity opens on June 20. This is the organization that is going to provide third-party dispute resolution services, and also investigate athlete complaints of abuse and harassment (because the national sport orgs are doing a crap job of it themselves).

http://www.crdsc-sdrcc.ca/eng/documents/2022-05-17_OSIC_Launch_June_20_Final_EN.pdf

There was a story (paywalled) saying IIRC that the office is only going to have three staff members to begin with. Given all the complaints that have been made public in the last few months, I think those three staffers are going to be overwhelmed with work very quickly

 

[Artistic Skaters]

Article regarding the guilty plea by Dane Ayers:

Ex-ice dancer charged in Estero sex assault case gets jail, listing as sexual offender

A girl reported she had a sexual relationship with Dane Ayers, who was 6 years older, when they met while training at Hertz Arena.

www.news-press.com

A former ice dancer training in Southwest Florida and arrested in 2020 on charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old Lee County girl will serve a year in jail.

Dane Francis Ayers, 22, on Monday pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious conduct before Lee County Judge Nicholas Thompson.

Ayers' jail time will be followed by 10 years of sex offender probation and he must register as a sex offender. He was given credit for two days in jail.

 

[Frog Foot]

There is a new suspension listed on Safesport:

Christopher Young

Houston

TX

U.S. Figure Skating

Allegations of Misconduct

Temporary Suspension

05/17/2022

U.S. Center for SafeSport

Any idea what this case is about? What has happened to Sappenfield case, it has been forever and nothing.

 

[Frau Muller]

Any idea what this case is about? What has happened to Sappenfield case, it has been forever and nothing.

Exactly. Also, what happened to her protege, that TJ dude?

 

[once_upon]

Oh come on guys, in the long history of investigations of sexual misconduct, the Sappenfield case is still in its infancy.

 

[overedge]

Rick Westhead, a reporter for TSN in Canada, has been doing some excellent investigative work re athlete abuse and national sport organizations dealing with it - or, more often, not dealing with it.

According to him, since 2018 national sport organizations in Canada that get federal funding have been required to make an annual report to the govt on how many abuse/harassment/bullying complaints they dealt with. He filed a freedom of information request to get those reports. Skate Canada reported exactly one complaint during that time. Here's his Tweet with the numbers:

https://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1537215352198746112?t=sT1o0QXES-Lpr3VI6SuwdQ&s=19

Either Skate Canada has a very narrow definition of "formal" or its complaint system is completely dysfunctional. Or maybe both....

 

[barbarafan]

Exactly. Also, what happened to her protege, that TJ dude?

he posts on instagram....I guess it is students he is coaching?

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

or do I have the wrong person?

 

[Frau Muller]

he posts on instagram....I guess it is students he is coaching?

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

or do I have the wrong person?

That’s the one. Shameless.

 

[Yyzskater]

Rick Westhead, a reporter for TSN in Canada, has been doing some excellent investigative work re athlete abuse and national sport organizations dealing with it - or, more often, not dealing with it.

According to him, since 2018 national sport organizations in Canada that get federal funding have been required to make an annual report to the govt on how many abuse/harassment/bullying complaints they dealt with. He filed a freedom of information request to get those reports. Skate Canada reported exactly one complaint during that time. Here's his Tweet with the numbers:

https://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1537215352198746112?t=sT1o0QXES-Lpr3VI6SuwdQ&s=19

Either Skate Canada has a very narrow definition of "formal" or its complaint system is completely dysfunctional. Or maybe both....

How is this possible when Skate Canada recently suspended a figure skating coach for alleged inappropriate communication with a skater (minor)? I'm sure this falls under SafeSports...

And to me, a suspension (interim or permanent) is as "formal" as it gets.

 

[overedge]

@Yyzskater in the replies to the Tweet that I linked, there are responses from people in several different sports saying that the numbers are way under-reported.

This also shows IMO that no one in the federal government who received these reports knows enough about amateur sport to notice that those numbers are suspicious. Or they knew and didn't want to rock the boat by raising concerns, which is equally bad.....

 

[Yyzskater]

@Yyzskater in the replies to the Tweet that I linked, there are responses from people in several different sports saying that the numbers are way under-reported.

This also shows IMO that no one in the federal government who received these reports knows enough about amateur sport to notice that those numbers are suspicious. Or they knew and didn't want to rock the boat by raising concerns, which is equally bad.....

Unfortunately, without auditing the responses, I doubt any effort will be made to have the real numbers reflected. There doesn't seem to be any effort to actually make sports safe for young athletes.

 

[overedge]

So...it looks like the Canadian federal govt is getting a little fed up with sport organizations that it funds and that don't take abuse complaints seriously. The Dept of Canadian Heritage, which includes sport, has frozen Hockey Canada's federal funding until it makes some changes in how it handles those kinds of complaints. https://www.moosejawtoday.com/natio...-over-handling-of-assault-allegations-5506854