Local Olympian fights to protect young athletes from sexual abuse

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In the wake of the sexual assault scandal that rocked USA Gymnastics, a new one has come to light involving another sports governing body. 

According to a report from the Orange County Register in California, for decades, a similar sexual assault scandal has been ongoing in USA Swimming. Last week, President Donald Trump signed a new law aimed at protecting young athletes from sexual abuse. 

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Under the new law, adults who become aware of an athlete who may be a victim of sexual abuse have 24 hours to report it to law enforcement, much like a teacher has to. It’s something advocates say should have happened a long time ago and could have prevented some of the sexual abuse that has happened in sports in recent years.
 
“This is your kids that the statute will touch. It is estimated to touch a minimum of 8 million children around the country. This isn’t just about people with wild and crazy dreams of going to the Olympics. This is people assuming that when they drop their kids off at a soccer program that it is a safe program,” said Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a local former Olympian and activist who helped push the legislation.  

After the sexual assault claims began against former USA Gymnastics trainer Larry Nassar, Hogshead-Makar said a larger focus began on what could be done to prevent anything like that from happening again. The new law doesn’t just apply to prospective Olympic athletes, but all levels covered under the Olympic governing body. One of the new rules states that adults cannot be alone with children unless it’s an emergency. 

“All others, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, YMCA, they already figured that out. Now, we have a federal law that says the United States Olympic Committee has got to prohibit that behavior,” said Hogshead-Makar.

According to a new report from the Orange County Register, at least 590 women have come forward claiming sexual assault against more than 230 coaches and board members of USA Swimming, dating back decades.

Since 2010, a list of more than 30 coaches and officials were flagged, but only six banned despite others being convicted.

The new law also creates a Center for Safe Sport, an independent organization to oversee governing bodies.

“They will take complaints. They will investigate, they will hold a hearing, and they will sanction that coach if necessary to get them away from children,” said Hogshead-Makar.
 
For information about the Center for Safe Sport, how to report any sexual or other misconduct from coaches, click here.

The list of names below are members and coaches who are banned or have been declared permanently ineligible by either USA Swimming or USA Gymnastics. 

Permanently ineligible for USA Gymnastics:

Florida
Ray Adams
Ronald Hartsfield
Robert Hoefer
Alexander Katchalov
Dana Koppendrayer
William M. Permenter
Jeffrey Richards
Mark Swift


Georgia
William McCabe
William Newcom

Permanently banned or ineligible from USA Swimming:

Florida
Robert Caragol
Simon Chocron
Francisco X De Aragon II
Joseph Dias
Adrian Ghandtchi
Gary Goodner Sr
Robert Griffith
Jason Michael Lear
Leonardo Martins
Mark Matuszak
Chase Panem
Stephen Steele
William Tinsley
Bryan Woodward

Georgia
Neil Savage
Jamie Hahn

For other sports covered by the US Olympic Committee and coaches banned by those organizations, you can go to https://safesport.org and click on the disciplinary records.