New Brennan Article re: Zimmerman/Fontana & the Rink in USA Today

[Vagabond]

I’m assuming they are not so stupid as to again blatantly assist a guilty skater. Maybe I’m giving them too much credit.

They were stupid enough to ignore both the law and SafeSport rules, so they may well be that stupid.

Just as abusers often continue to abuse after getting caught, so too do enablers continue to enable.

 

[MacMadame]

I’m assuming they are not so stupid as to again blatantly assist a guilty skater. Maybe I’m giving them too much credit.

Even if you are giving them too much credit, I don't think these sorts of circumstances are going to come up every day at the rink. As a parent, I would want to know about Cipres but I would just assume that the club and rink will function in a way that protects the guilty whether they mean to or not. (I say this from my own experiences being on a number of boards -- they all engage in CYA and putting their heads in the sand.)

 

[okokok777]

I’m assuming they are not so stupid as to again blatantly assist a guilty skater. Maybe I’m giving them too much credit.

Sadly, I think you may be giving them a bit too much credit @PRlady. As someone who's been closely following the case for ~9 months, the stupidity of the abuser & enablers is quite shocking.

They were stupid enough to ignore both the law and SafeSport rules, so they may well be that stupid.

Just as abusers often continue to abuse after getting caught, so too do enablers continue to enable.

And I agree, @Vagabond. I think a lot of that comes from the fact that they were able to get away with it for so long. I've talked to some parents & skaters from the rink (and a few from Panthers) - they've known about the situation since it happened in late 2017.

Generally speaking, I wouldn't note the lack of a temporary suspension to mean very much. The last time I checked, over 90% of SafeSport decisions have been automatic sanctions due to the filing of criminal charges (usually denoted as Criminal Disposition X) i.e. there is a relatively small number of cases that involved a full SafeSport investigation. Moreover, the investigations can take a very long time (2-3 years for some) & there has been a lot of controversy re: their length & the implementation of temporary measures.

For example, I've spoken with officials from a few NGBs who've complained that they wanted to temporarily suspend a member due to some very serious allegations of sexual misconduct (along with some very convincing evidence of guilt) but were unable to because SafeSport had taken on the case. I could go on about this subject but I would probably end up writing an essay, TBH.

 

[barbarafan]

I would like to know if Vinny Dispenza who has been coaching for 10 yrs is still coaching at the rink. He bribed 2 13yr old girls to ask Morgan Cipres for nude pictures of himself. What was his motive. Secretly wanted nude pictures of Morgan? Did he feel he had a market for selling the pictures? Did he hate or was jealous of Morgan in some way so did this to screw up his life? Very strange that he was the one who went over to Zimmerman's house to tell them about the pictures. He definitely should be finished as far as coaching is concerned.

 

[Orm Irian]

What was his motive.

Shifting attention away from himself? An adult man having a relationship with two thirteen-year-old girls where he can tell them to do that - pizza bribe or not - and they do so implies that he has groomed them to the point where it feels okay to them, or at least transgressive in an exciting way rather than a frightening one. It is itself an abusive act. If he were some kind of hero selflessly setting up a sting to expose Cipres, he'd have done what the police do and used an adult to catfish him instead, or done it himself.

 

[Carolla5501]

I’m assuming they are not so stupid as to again blatantly assist a guilty skater. Maybe I’m giving them too much credit.

Why not? It looks like they’ve already done that once that we know of

 

[misskarne]

They were stupid enough to ignore both the law and SafeSport rules, so they may well be that stupid.

Just as abusers often continue to abuse after getting caught, so too do enablers continue to enable.

And I would actually argue that the actions of Zimmermann and Fontana were also abusive.

 

[okokok777]

I would like to know if Vinny Dispenza who has been coaching for 10 yrs is still coaching at the rink. He bribed 2 13yr old girls to ask Morgan Cipres for nude pictures of himself. What was his motive. Secretly wanted nude pictures of Morgan? Did he feel he had a market for selling the pictures? Did he hate or was jealous of Morgan in some way so did this to screw up his life? Very strange that he was the one who went over to Zimmerman's house to tell them about the pictures. He definitely should be finished as far as coaching is concerned.

I'm pretty sure that he's still coaching at the rink (along with John & Silvia). The "pizza story" makes a lot more sense in context. I'm not sure if the full story makes him look better or worse, per se, but it does make his motivations a bit more clear IMO.

And I would actually argue that the actions of Zimmermann and Fontana were also abusive.

You have a great point. In this case, I have a habit of referring to Morgan as "the abuser" and the coaches/skaters/rink staff involved in the cover-up "the enablers", when in reality, the latter emotionally abused the survivor.

 

[Orm Irian]

I'm pretty sure that he's still coaching at the rink (along with John & Silvia). The "pizza story" makes a lot more sense in context. I'm not sure if the full story makes him look better or worse, per se, but it does make his motivations a bit more clear IMO.

I'm glad to know that there's more information available about Dispenza than we have from Brennan's reporting to date, because from a mandatory reporter's POV, if one of the children involved had disclosed to me just the facts that have been made publicly available, it would have raised enough red flags to outfit a building site and I would have filed CARL reports on both Cipres and Dispenza post-haste.

 

[MacMadame]

The "pizza story" makes a lot more sense in context. I'm not sure if the full story makes him look better or worse, per se, but it does make his motivations a bit more clear IMO.

Then why don't you tell us what the full story is?

 

[okokok777]

Then why don't you tell us what the full story is?

I'm assuming that it wasn't shared for a reason - I know that certain pieces of information are being shared upon approval by the family attorney so this may be one of them.

 

[MacMadame]

I'm assuming that it wasn't shared for a reason - I know that certain pieces of information are being shared upon approval by the family attorney so this may be one of them.

Then, TBH, I don't think you should have said anything. "If you knew what I knew" is not heplful if you aren't going to share what you know.

 

[okokok777]

Then, TBH, I don't think you should have said anything. "If you knew what I knew" is not heplful if you aren't going to share what you know.

Fair enough. You have a right to express your thoughts & opinions and to post as you please - as do I.

 

[Japanfan]

Then, TBH, I don't think you should have said anything. "If you knew what I knew" is not heplful if you aren't going to share what you know.

It's also a bit mean, IMO, like gloating (ha ha I know more than you know).