Keeping Track of Criminal Cases & SafeSport Suspensions in Skating

[overedge]

I'm astounded at how little Skate Canada appears to know about the definition of independent investigations, and/or how to conduct appropriate trauma-informed investigations in abuse situations. With all the high profile cases in Canada of abuse in sports and the very negative impacts on those sports' governing organizations (looking at you, Hockey Canada and Soccer Canada), it's unfathomable to me how any sport organization could not be careful about these things, or to act like the same negative blowback would never happen to them.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

According to her Instagram, investigative reporter Robyn Doolittle (a former figure skater) is going to be covering the figure skating and speed skating events in Milan for the Globe and Mail. In that Doolittle wrote a book about how the Canadian police (mis)handle sexual assault cases, it would be great she could use her investigative skills to look into the Skate Canada's handling of sexual assault reports.

 

[farahfan]

sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere--- whatever happened to the Desyatov case? Did he get a formal "trial" of some sort and has the case been resolved? I haven't heard anything in a while.

 

[overedge]

According to her Instagram, investigative reporter Robyn Doolittle (a former figure skater) is going to be covering the figure skating and speed skating events in Milan for the Globe and Mail. In that Doolittle wrote a book about how the Canadian police (mis)handle sexual assault cases, it would be great she could use her investigative skills to look into the Skate Canada's handling of sexual assault reports.

She also was one of the Globe's lead reporters on the coverage of the sexual assault trial involving members of Canada's world junior hockey team. So she knows about sport organizations that try to cover up or downplay complaints about abuse by athletes in their sport.

She was (and may still be) part of an adult competitive synchro team in Toronto. I can't find the video online, but when she was at the Toronto Star she made a video about skating in which David Pelletier taught her a death spiral. She was pretty good!

ETA: Here's the story that accompanied the video. https://www.thestar.com/entertainme...cle_2a4a66ef-c3bf-525a-b714-a74b1486728a.html

 

[Firedancer]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2002100642186445311

 

[Rukia]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2002100642186445311

i bet the comment section on bella's insta posts will remain as gross as ever despite this

 

[Evgeniafan]

i bet the comment section on bella's insta posts will remain as gross as ever despite this

Are they still married?

 

[Willin]

While no one should be blaming Bella for his behavior, their marriage really raises a lot of questions about the marriages in that camp.

They should care a lot more about these kids instead of just getting them married to people for citizenship.

 

[Rukia]

Are they still married?

I don't think anyone has dug up a divorce for them yet, so as far as anyone knows they still are

also I don't hold her accountable for his behavior, but she has the ability to moderate her comment section and leaves every single nasty comment people leave in support of desyatov there so I can only assume she agrees with them based on her own actions

 

[Sylvia]

From the U.S. Center for SafeSport website today:

Ivan Desyatov

Colorado Springs

CO

U.S. Figure Skating

(Subject to appeal / not yet final); Sexual Misconduct

Permanent Ineligibility

No Contact Directive(s)

12/19/2025

U.S. Center for SafeSport

 

[Vagabond]

sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere--- whatever happened to the Desyatov case? Did he get a formal "trial" of some sort and has the case been resolved? I haven't heard anything in a while.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2002100642186445311

Apparently, posting questions in this thread is the most efficient means of getting SafeSport to get off its duff and make a decision. Keep up the good work, folks.

 

[farahfan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2002100642186445311

Thanks for posting!

 

[overedge]

From Lori Ward, an update on the Sorensen case. The Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada has set aside the arbitrator's previous ruling (I believe this is the ruling that overturned his suspension) and asked for additional submissions before making a new decision.

🚨 BREAKING: Nikolaj Sørensen’s suspension

Investigative journalism. Going beneath the surface of figure skating and elite sports with award winning journalist Lori Ward.

brokenice.substack.com

 

[BrightSkates]

I don't think anyone has dug up a divorce for them yet, so as far as anyone knows they still are

also I don't hold her accountable for his behavior, but she has the ability to moderate her comment section and leaves every single nasty comment people leave in support of desyatov there so I can only assume she agrees with them based on her own actions

From what I know he still lives with the Flores family in Colorado.

 

[my little pony]

from Lori Ward's substack - if you read here I enjoy your work

“How in the world is he allowed to compete?”

Why a National Sport Organization may not know about a misconduct report.

brokenice.substack.com

 

[marbri]

from Lori Ward's substack - if you read here I enjoy your work

“How in the world is he allowed to compete?”

Why a National Sport Organization may not know about a misconduct report.

brokenice.substack.com

I think it's good that this woman has started this substack but for an investigative journalist I don't think this particular article is done well.

She writes:

According to the survivor, she originally made an anonymous report to the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC). She claims that an OSIC investigator reached out to the accused and based on the details of the report, identified her as the potential reporter and provided them with her contact information. She says the call she then received from the investigator was “condescending,” and they “cornered” her into admitting she had filed the report. She then says they told her the next steps included a hearing where the accused would be present. In order to protect her mental health, she pulled out of the investigation, telling Broken Ice, “I no longer felt safe continuing the investigation, and I felt betrayed, like the system was set up to fail victims like me.”

But I remember a tweet from 2024 where in the course of another SA discussion ( maybe the Sorensen case, was it Jan 2024 that that came out?) Anyway the victim tweeted that she hadn't received any confirmation about her complaint. Abuse-free sport responded to that tweet with the following ( her account is no longer viewable so you can't see the original tweet they are responding to but you can safely assume I remember it correctly based on their wording):

https://x.com/AbuseFreeSport/status/1770882436332712272

If you haven’t received a confirmation of submission for a case you filed, we encourage you to reach out at [email protected] for an update. If you know your case number, you can include it in your message.

How do you send confirmation to an anonymous complaint and/or how would they investigate an anonymous complaint ? There has to be some process involved surely or anyone could just anonymously submit a complaint to derail a rival etc... I am not understanding how that process works and it would have been helpful if Ward included that as part of her piece considering the whole point of it is to explain the process.

 

[skategal]

I think it's good that this woman has started this substack but for an investigative journalist I don't think this particular article is done well.

She writes:




But I remember a tweet from 2024 where in the course of another SA discussion ( maybe the Sorensen case, was it Jan 2024 that that came out?) Anyway the victim tweeted that she hadn't received any confirmation about her complaint. Abuse-free sport responded to that tweet with the following ( her account is no longer viewable so you can't see the original tweet they are responding to but you can safely assume I remember it correctly based on their wording):

https://x.com/AbuseFreeSport/status/1770882436332712272

If you haven’t received a confirmation of submission for a case you filed, we encourage you to reach out at [email protected] for an update. If you know your case number, you can include it in your message.

How do you send confirmation to an anonymous complaint and/or how would they investigate an anonymous complaint ? There has to be some process involved surely or anyone could just anonymously submit a complaint to derail a rival etc... I am not understanding how that process works and it would have been helpful if Ward included that as part of her piece considering the whole point of it is to explain the process.

My thoughts were:

She filed an anonymous complaint, then when identified against her will, wouldn't testify against the accused and withdrew the case.

Ok so why wouldn't he be allowed to compete?

I mean he could very well have assaulted her (and I believe her) but you can't keep someone from competing based on that investigation or lack thereof.

I'm not saying this process is a good one at all, but the title of the article makes no sense with the rest of the article.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

How do you send confirmation to an anonymous complaint and/or how would they investigate an anonymous complaint ? There has to be some process involved surely or anyone could just anonymously submit a complaint to derail a rival etc...

It depends on what anonymous complaint means. I can submit an anonymous report to the department of children and families (DCF). Anonymous means my name isn’t shared with the child or family, but DCF has it.

So it’s possible that anonymous in this case means the name was shared with AbuseFreeSport but wasn’t supposed to be shared with Skate Canada or the accused.

 

[MacMadame]

It depends on what anonymous complaint means. I can submit an anonymous report to the department of children and families (DCF). Anonymous means my name isn’t shared with the child or family, but DCF has it.

So it’s possible that anonymous in this case means the name was shared with AbuseFreeSport but wasn’t supposed to be shared with Skate Canada or the accused.

The article doesn't make it sound like that happened. It said that the accuser was contacted by an investigator and they cornered her into admitting she filed it.

Sounds like details made it obvious to the accused who had accused them.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

The article doesn't make it sound like that happened. It said that the accuser was contacted by an investigator and they cornered her into admitting she filed it.

Sounds like details made it obvious to the accused who had accused them.

I wasn’t sure if the OSIC and AbuseFreeSport were the same.

 

[marbri]

The article doesn't make it sound like that happened. It said that the accuser was contacted by an investigator and they cornered her into admitting she filed it.

Sounds like details made it obvious to the accused who had accused them.

Precisely. So my question is how does that jive with the victim complaining on twitter that she hadn't been contacted yet?

I don't know if Lori Ward used AI to write this piece but there are puzzle pieces missing to how the process here unfolded and I think it benefits all to understand precisely how an anonymous complaint works. What is the process? Because you present it as if her identity was provided to OSIC by the accused when she herself tweeted she was yet to here from them regarding her complaint ( ie... they would have to have some identifying information to respond to her right? )

Because wouldn't that be scary for any victim and scare them off reporting if it actually happened as Lori presents it in the article?

 

[marbri]

I wasn’t sure if the OSIC and AbuseFreeSport were the same.

Sorry. I should have picked up on that and shown the connection. My bad.

Home - Abuse Free Sport

abuse-free-sport.ca

 

[MacMadame]

I wasn’t sure if the OSIC and AbuseFreeSport were the same.

Ah, I didn't pick up on that.

As @marbri says, the article wasn't well written. There were a number of confusing parts.

 

[IHH0628]

The above article might not be well written but the sentiment in the title is quite relatable right about now.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I don’t care what anyone says. I like this song still. And I love the dress.

 

[overedge]

I think the title was a paraphrase of what people might be saying about this situation (and what some have said on FSU), not a direct quote from anyone specific.

Re anonymous complaints, what @Theatregirl1122 said. Most complaint systems of any kind won't accept anonymous complaints, because there's no way to reliably investigate them - like, how could the investigators contact the complainer if they needed more detail, or wanted responses to whatever evidence the accused person provides. But in most complaint systems the complainer's identity isn't supposed to be available to the accused person(s), to protect the complainer from retribution.

I read "anonymous complaint" in this story as meaning that the complainer wasn't anonymous to the investigators, but the accused person was able to figure out who the complainer was from the questions they asked him (which happens quite often in these kinds of investigations). But then I didn't understand why the investigator would have to trap the complainer into admitting that it was her who filed the complaint.

 

[Vagabond]

The part that baffles me is this bit in bold face:

She claims that an OSIC investigator reached out to the accused and based on the details of the report, identified her as the potential reporter and provided them with her contact information.

I am confident that Canada has some principle of due process requiring that an accused be advised of his accuser's identity. But to provide an accused with his accuser's contact information makes no sense at all, particularly given the nature of the alleged conduct.

I hope the "beloved" dude scores low at Canadians and slinks back into obscurity.

 

[Karen-W]

The part that baffles me is this bit in bold face:


I am confident that Canada has some principle of due process requiring that an accused be advised of his accuser's identity. But to provide an accused with his accuser's contact information makes no sense at all, particularly given the nature of the alleged conduct.

I hope the "beloved" dude scores low at Canadians and slinks back into obscurity.

I read that to mean that the accused identified who his accuser was and then provided the investigator with his accuser's contact information, which the investigator did not have previous to that point.

 

[Vagabond]

I read that to mean that the accused identified who his accuser was and then provided the investigator with his accuser's contact information, which the investigator did not have previous to that point.

She claims that an OSIC investigator reached out to the accused and based on the details of the report, identified her as the potential reporter and provided them with her contact information.

That may be what the author meant, but it isn't what she said. The subject of the subordinate clause is "an OSIC investigator."

Beyond that, it's highly likely that the investigator either had the accuser's contact information or could have gotten it from the OSIC. Given what we know about the allegations, it's highly likely that if the accused ever had the accuser's contact information, the accuser changed it to prevent him from contacting her.

 

[Jammers]

The part that baffles me is this bit in bold face:


I am confident that Canada has some principle of due process requiring that an accused be advised of his accuser's identity. But to provide an accused with his accuser's contact information makes no sense at all, particularly given the nature of the alleged conduct.

I hope the "beloved" dude scores low at Canadians and slinks back into obscurity.

Who is this beloved dude? Is it who i think it is?