SafeSport investigating Peter Oppegard

[Frau Muller]

Sadly, the allegations fit with a pattern.

As far back as the late 90s, Oppegard was behaving badly during public practice sessions at Nationals and other elite events. I personally observed yelling at skaters, unprofessional and angry displays of frustration with skaters, and forceful instructions to practice moves over and over, despite skaters clearly expressing they were injured/in pain, scared, and wanted to stop. There was one particular incident of increasingly scary triple twists (at least 15 in a row) that I feared would result in serious injuries. (The team broke up, and the woman retired, soon thereafter.)

I remember that too. I also remember harsh tone of voice with his partner Jill Watson during a Nationals practice in the mid-80s. I always felt sorry for her - so tiny yet tough as nails - but it wasn’t my business. Coaches and parents were around.

 

[BittyBug]

I personally observed yelling at skaters, unprofessional and angry displays of frustration with skaters, and forceful instructions to practice moves over and over, despite skaters clearly expressing they were injured/in pain, scared, and wanted to stop.

Regrettably, this could describe more than a few coaches.

 

[GarrAargHrumph]

There is something very wrong with our sport. This guy was known to be an abuser, and no one reported him until now? I'm not saying this is on the victims - it's 99.9999% likely there were other people at the rink when these, and other, incidents happened. And yet no one said a word.

And that people apparently knew that the other coach Louis mentioned was molesting boys, and no one reported it - that's just horrific.

The culture around figure skating coaching, and what is and is not considered acceptable, is toxic.

 

[thvu]

And that people apparently knew that the other coach Louis mentioned was molesting boys, and no one reported it - that's just horrific.

The culture around figure skating coaching, and what is and is not considered acceptable, is toxic.

100%. Society, and especially elite figure skating, still protects abusers in positions of power. Those with the power to affect real change more often than not identify more with the abuser than with the victim.

 

[meggonzo]

It is not victim blaming to state that there is something wrong when a parent does not remove their child from a situation where they have clearly been abused. I get concern for his own children etc. but it's the least of asks that the child be immediately removed from interacting with a coach who does something like this. I give no sh!ts if the abused child's family will lose money prepaid to the abuser etc. But I guess the fact that so many people on this board think it's victim blaming to call out a parent for continuing to allow a child that's in an abusive situation remain with an abusive coach is why this keeps happening. aka Figure Skating Culture.
"Maybe they had already prepaid for a contract with him" oh ok in that case it's understandable then . WTF

Sorry, I wasn't trying to excuse Pfund's mother's response. I just had a knee-jerk reaction since Jessica is one of the victims here. Also, I was assuming "figure skating culture" would have impacted the parents' response, if they were considering the impacts to Jessica's future in skating. Not that it makes it okay, but I could see why they felt they couldn't speak out.

 

[okokok777]

There is something very wrong with our sport. This guy was known to be an abuser, and no one reported him until now? I'm not saying this is on the victims - it's 99.9999% likely there were other people at the rink when these, and other, incidents happened. And yet no one said a word.

And that people apparently knew that the other coach Louis mentioned was molesting boys, and no one reported it - that's just horrific.

The culture around figure skating coaching, and what is and is not considered acceptable, is toxic.

I just want to point out that there is a difference between a case being reported, investigated and adjudicated.

A lot of the time, suspected incidents of abuse are reported by witnesses or related parties (other skaters at the rink, teachers, counselors, nurses, etc.) However, that doesn't automatically mean that abuser will be fully investigated/arrested/banned. For example, if the survivor decides not to cooperate with the investigative body due to fear of retaliation, then the case usually ends there.

In re: to Oppegard, I know of a few people who've reported him for physical and emotional abuse over the years. The most recent set of formal reports were what set off the SafeSport investigations.

 

[MacMadame]

Pfund and her mother are speaking up now, and speaking on the record without anonymity, and I give them credit for that.

And they discussed it at the time. There are so many skating situations where that would not have happened or where the parent would have excused the behavior and continued with the coach.

If they were that concerned about his kids, they could have paid out the contract with him and still not require him to coach their daughter.

But her daughter is part of a pair. What if the boy didn't want to go somewhere else? How would they switch coaches mid-season particularly with unpaid bills (another poster said not to pay out the contract)? If they were getting USFS funding (I don't remember if they did that season) and they split up, they'd have to give it back. (This is why lots of teams who really split before Nationals will wait until after to announce it, btw.)

There are so many reasons, some good, some bad, to wait out the season before doing anything especially in this sport with this culture.

It's easy for us to be indignant and swear we wouldn't have done it that way but we don't know what was discussed in private and all the issues and it's not our lives and skating careers that would be impacted.

ETA I wish they would have at least reported the behavior after Jessica left. Though again I can see why they didn't. Everyone knew Oppegard had a temper and was abusive to his skaters. But USFS did nothing. Why would they think reporting the incident would change anything? This is what having a culture where abuse is tolerated gets you.

 

[hanca]

He bit a skater while showing her a landing position on a jump? WTF?

Did his teeth hit the skater while he was landing the jump? That’s some seriously accurate aim!

 

[tony]

Did his teeth hit the skater while he was landing the jump? That’s some seriously accurate aim!

Did you read the article?

“He was helping to position me on the ice to show me a landing position on a jump. Both of his hands were holding me, and he leaned over and bit me on the skin on my upper right arm, near the bicep,” Pfund said.

 

[skategal]

But her daughter is part of a pair. What if the boy didn't want to go somewhere else? How would they switch coaches mid-season particularly with unpaid bills (another poster said not to pay out the contract)? If they were getting USFS funding (I don't remember if they did that season) and they split up, they'd have to give it back. (This is why lots of teams who really split before Nationals will wait until after to announce it, btw.)

There are so many reasons, some good, some bad, to wait out the season before doing anything especially in this sport with this culture.

I would have paid him out just to get rid of him.

I would figure that anyone psycho enough to literally bite the hand that feeds him would probably come after me with a lot more than just teeth if it meant breach of contract or loss of money to him.

As for being in a pair, the boy would come along or he wouldn't. It wouldn't matter to me.

I'd give the USFS funding back if I had to in order to protect my daughter.

But honestly, if they are condoning a coach like that, they might have to sue me for that $$$.

However, I am the type that my kid's safety is my number one priority in life.

In other words, my kid is never going to be an elite athlete and that's okay with me.

 

[Aceon6]

Josh and Jessica are tweeting up a storm today, like shaken bottles of soda. It must have been very bad for them to go so public.

A sample from Josh “Do you know how hard it was to pretend to be nice to a known abuser for years? Thankfully it’s finally public knowledge, even if it’s only a small part of the information. If I wasn’t protecting my partner, I’d have said something about that POS a long time ago.”

 

[overedge]

Josh and Jessica are tweeting up a storm today, like shaken bottles of soda. It must have been very bad for them to go so public.

A sample from Josh “Do you know how hard it was to pretend to be nice to a known abuser for years? Thankfully it’s finally public knowledge, even if it’s only a small part of the information. If I wasn’t protecting my partner, I’d have said something about that POS a long time ago.”

Yes, it's especially difficult when two skaters' careers are being affected by one of them being abused.

All credit to Josh for speaking up, unlike the recent situation where a pairs skater said nothing when their partner was revealed to be an abuser at their rink.

 

[overedge]

And now I'm thinking about the Sorcerer's Apprentice program that Oppegard did for Zimmerman and Stiegler, and wondering what else was going on behind that choreography....not to mention that Zimmerman's own actions as a coach are now the subject of abuse allegations

 

[hanca]

Did you read the article?

No, when I wrote my post, I just couldn’t resist to respond to the post Cherub721 wrote. But you are right, I shouldn’t make jokes when it is about serious issues like a child abuse!

 

[Prancer]

Not to take away from the main point of the article, but I was just going to comment on the same thing:

KAREN OPPEGARD VS PETER OPPEGARD

On 11/09/2017 KAREN OPPEGARD filed a Family - Marriage Dissolution/Divorce court case against PETER OPPEGARD in Orange County Superior Courts. Court records for this case are available from Lamoreaux Justice Center.

unicourt.com

It looks like they are still in mediation; it looks like a Covid delay. Maybe I'm missing where the dissolution was finalized?

 

[MacMadame]

In other words, my kid is never going to be an elite athlete and that's okay with me.

Well, mine either as I don't believe in focusing a family around one child's talent to the degree required.

I just think it's easy to say what we'd do. But figure skating is expensive and the amount of money we're talking about here that might be owed might be in the 5 figures. I don't know about you, but I haven't got 10,000 sitting around that I can just give to someone no matter how much I'd want to. (And if my kids were skating that would be even more true since all our disposable income would go to skating.)

And that's just money. There is also the kid's skating career to think about it. Leaving in the middle of the season could mean not getting to Nationals or not doing well enough to get funding for the next season. It might mean having to start all over with new programs with all the costs involved with that. There may not be a coach who would take them under those circumstances. It might mean having to stop skating altogether. (Which seems to have happened, actually.)

Abuse victims often have trouble leaving the abusive situation for so many reasons and I think treating leaving the situation like it's easy and only people with something wrong with them don't leave does them a disservice. It sounds like the family talked about it and decided to continue with the season and then get out regardless of the cost to Jessica's career. So many people would have just stayed regardless so I give them some credit for that.

 

[Yuri]

Just wow! I really hate to read about this sort of accusation against a coach from my sibling's era of competition, someone who we had considered a friend back in the day. He even taught my sibling adagio pairs moves three decades ago for professional ice shows and he was a good acquaintance of mine during my time as a USFSA official. This one hits home as we had heard nothing about these rumors, as opposed to several of the coaches who were always rumored of serial abuse of their underage students before finally being caught and banned. Neither of us has had any contact with him for a couple decades, and the only news we had heard was his broken marriage with Karen Kwan.

One of my closest elite skating friends who has coached in Southern California rinks and has known both Karen and Peter for years ( and is also a long-term friend of Michelle's) is totally shocked at the news, so I guess rumors weren't that widespread. And it's a Christine Brennan story (who else?), and neither of us has ever been a fan of her tabloid journalism. I pray it's not true, but hopefully SafeSport will get to the bottom of this truly bizarre story. Biting a student, really? Doesn't even seem real to me, so crazy, that's a first for physical abuse.

 

[skategal]

Abuse victims often have trouble leaving the abusive situation for so many reasons and I think treating leaving the situation like it's easy and only people with something wrong with them don't leave does them a disservice. It sounds like the family talked about it and decided to continue with the season and then get out regardless of the cost to Jessica's career. So many people would have just stayed regardless so I give them some credit for that.

I have all the sympathy in the world for abuse victims, many of whom have no way of accessing the money and support to leave and have children to consider.

I'm sure it was a lot for Jessica's family to consider leaving this coach.

For me, my child would leave the situation even if it meant the end of their career.

 

[Vagabond]

But her daughter is part of a pair. What if the boy didn't want to go somewhere else?

That would be his problem.

The last thing to tell someone who has been abused by a coach is that she should stick around to make others happy.

 

[overedge]

@Yuri Brennan's story is directly quoting a skater who was interviewed as part of a SafeSport investigation of a complaint - not a complaint made by that skater - and whose skating partner is now publicly agreeing with what that skater said. This story is not "tabloid journalism" if by that you mean reporting based on rumors and hearsay.

A story about an issue like this would also be reviewed by lawyers before it was published. They likely would not let anything go into print that they didn't feel was sufficiently verified.

 

[misskarne]

I always find it veeeeeeery interesting to see who comes out and talks about Brennan and tries to discredit her every time an abuse story comes out.

Veeeeeery interesting.

 

[Judy]

Back in the day, I was friendly with a skating mother whose daughter moved to train with a known (and now proven) molester. I brought up the concerns, on the off chance that she didn't know, and her response was, "I'm not worried, he only molests boys."

I agree with others that the focus needs to be on stopping the abusers.

Parents sometimes get just as caught up as skaters in the "dream" and ignore obvious warning signs. I'm not a skating parent (or even a parent), but there were some things that I accepted or conveniently ignored that were absolutely wrong. I know now, I should have known then, and I feel badly that I stayed silent or in some cases even tacitly defended an abuser.

Pfund and her mother are speaking up now, and speaking on the record without anonymity, and I give them credit for that.

Who was the molester? Omg to that mother ?.

 

[bladesofgorey]

The last thing to tell someone who has been abused by a coach is that she should stick around to make others happy.

And to not ruin the abuser's/friends/families lives either

 

[MacMadame]

Who was the molester? Omg to that mother ?.

This sounds like stories I heard about Richard Callaghan after Tara won the Olympics.

 

[tony]

The Callaghan stuff was around forever -- remember the accusations first really become known in the media (with Maurizi) during or just after the 1999 Worlds and FOX produced some cheesy National Enquirer-esque 'On Thin Ice' special or something similar which alluded to his behavior. It wasn't like this stuff was kept hush-hush leading up to any of that.

 

[VGThuy]

It was very public for at least twenty years and even covered in the news before he finally got into some sort of trouble.

 

[Yuri]

Christine Brennan is the National Enquirer of figure skating journalists who specializes in sensationalized stories that drag down the sport. That doesn't mean that I don't believe what she's reported--even the National Enquirer often reported accurately in spite of its reputation--and for those who are jumping to conclusions and have already convicted Oppegard as a child abuser, the USA Today lawyers made her insert ALLEGEDLY and ALLEGATIONS everywhere. If there was going to be a reporter to go tabloid and go public with a supposedly confidential SafeSport investigation, she's the one. So who was the source of her obtaining the emails? Anyone who has read her books knows she often plays favorites, and it's just as important what she does NOT say for balance.

After rereading the article again, it's apparent that someone else filed the complaint and SafeSport must be following up with others who allegedly suffered abuse. Credibility is always highest for contemporary accounts, and in this case the alleged abuse was reported seven years after the fact and the pair remained with Oppegard for approximately another year before leaving him. There is no context of what may have triggered the reported behavior in the article, or other incidents from the posters in this thread.

Clearly this story has the potential to blow up further given we are talking about a coach who is a USFS Hall of Famer, the most recent US Olympics pairs medalist, and is/about-to-be the ex-brother-in-law of one of the USA's most beloved ice queens. But now instead of allowing the SafeSport investigation to run its course, the article is driving a lot of speculation from posters who want to be the prosecutor, judge, and jury without even knowing any of the parties personally or hearing the other side. I am not going to apologize for believing in due process, rather than jumping on the bandwagon to convict in the media and on the Internet. If everything turns out to be true, especially if there's a pattern of such abusive behavior, then I fully support a just punishment.

 

[okokok777]

After rereading the article again, it's apparent that someone else filed the complaint and SafeSport must be following up with others who allegedly suffered abuse. Credibility is always highest for contemporary accounts, and in this case the alleged abuse was reported seven years after the fact and the pair remained with Oppegard for approximately another year before leaving him. There is no context of what may have triggered the reported behavior in the article, or other incidents from the posters in this thread.

1. I just want to reiterate my past comment in re: to the difference between a report, an investigation and an adjudication. You're assuming that the most recent report was the first time that the alleged biting of Jessica was reported to an authoritative body. It's important to note that claimants aren't the only people who can make reports - witnesses and related parties can as well.

2. I read your earlier comment and can only imagine how confusing and shocking this article must be to you. I'm in a very different situation than you - I don't personally know Oppegard, however, I do know of several people who've reported him for multiple forms of abuse (a mixture of claimants and witnesses).

I believe in due process*. I also believe that people have a right to forming their own opinions. At least in the US, terms like due process are principles applicable to legal matters - not to the individual opinions of figure skating forum members (but that's a rant for another day LOL).

Generally speaking, we form our opinions based on the information that we have in front of us. I'm sure that your pre-existing relationship and opinion of Oppegard is impacting your opinion of this matter the same way that my lack of relationship w/ him and knowledge of certain allegations is impacting my own. Such is life.

Hopefully, if/when more of the information is released to the public, you will change some of your positions & recognize how some of your comments have been harmful. With that said, I wish you the best.

 

[overedge]

Christine Brennan is the National Enquirer of figure skating journalists who specializes in sensationalized stories that drag down the sport. That doesn't mean that I don't believe what she's reported--even the National Enquirer often reported accurately in spite of its reputation--and for those who are jumping to conclusions and have already convicted Oppegard as a child abuser, the USA Today lawyers made her insert ALLEGEDLY and ALLEGATIONS everywhere. If there was going to be a reporter to go tabloid and go public with a supposedly confidential SafeSport investigation, she's the one. So who was the source of her obtaining the emails? Anyone who has read her books knows she often plays favorites, and it's just as important what she does NOT say for balance.

It's a fact that a complaint was filed with SafeSport.

It's a fact that the complaint has not been resolved.

It's a fact that a SafeSport investigator interviewed Pfund about the complaint, and that Pfund was not the skater who filed the complaint.

It's a fact that Pfund told the investigator that Oppegard bit her.

Those facts are what Brennan's story is reporting. I'm really having trouble understanding what is tabloid-ish about this kind of reporting. These are facts, regardless of whether you like them or not. If reporting these facts "drags down the sport", well, maybe the sport should be dragged down if coaches do these kinds of things to skaters without being stopped. Given how political skating is, and how easily someone in the sport can be ostracized, do you think these kind of allegations would be made about a powerful coach for no reason?

And for someone who claims to believe in due process, I'm not sure why you are so upset about "alleged" and "allegations" being included in the story. That is exactly what due process is - that these are allegations until the investigation determines whether they are true.

 

[misskarne]

Christine Brennan is the National Enquirer of figure skating journalists who specializes in sensationalized stories that drag down the sport. That doesn't mean that I don't believe what she's reported--even the National Enquirer often reported accurately in spite of its reputation--and for those who are jumping to conclusions and have already convicted Oppegard as a child abuser, the USA Today lawyers made her insert ALLEGEDLY and ALLEGATIONS everywhere. If there was going to be a reporter to go tabloid and go public with a supposedly confidential SafeSport investigation, she's the one. So who was the source of her obtaining the emails? Anyone who has read her books knows she often plays favorites, and it's just as important what she does NOT say for balance.

After rereading the article again, it's apparent that someone else filed the complaint and SafeSport must be following up with others who allegedly suffered abuse. Credibility is always highest for contemporary accounts, and in this case the alleged abuse was reported seven years after the fact and the pair remained with Oppegard for approximately another year before leaving him. There is no context of what may have triggered the reported behavior in the article, or other incidents from the posters in this thread.

Clearly this story has the potential to blow up further given we are talking about a coach who is a USFS Hall of Famer, the most recent US Olympics pairs medalist, and is/about-to-be the ex-brother-in-law of one of the USA's most beloved ice queens. But now instead of allowing the SafeSport investigation to run its course, the article is driving a lot of speculation from posters who want to be the prosecutor, judge, and jury without even knowing any of the parties personally or hearing the other side. I am not going to apologize for believing in due process, rather than jumping on the bandwagon to convict in the media and on the Internet. If everything turns out to be true, especially if there's a pattern of such abusive behavior, then I fully support a just punishment.

As I said...

...veeeeeeery interesting to see whose automatic response is an attempt to discredit the only figure skating journalist speaking out against sexual abuse in our sport.

veeeeeeeery interesting.