Official in U.S. Bankruptcy case consulted with USA Gymnastics on sexual abuse issues

[emmade]

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/03/...d-with-usa-gymnastics-on-sexual-abuse-issues/

Couple of points that I find particularly interesting…

• Steve Penny engaged Bewley in 2008 to review USAG sexual and physical abuse prevention and response policies. He did this in response to criticism around handling of a historical sexual abuse case. I can’t recall there being any controversy at the time…does anyone remember, or was it kept as an in house drama? We were all focussed on the Chinese age scandal.
• Bewley has been working for USAG in some way since 1998, largely in roles around athlete safety. She also worked with USOPC.
• Judge James Carr worked for the law firm used by USAG between 1975 and 2012. Bewley now works for Carr mediating disputes in USAG bankruptcy case.
• Attorney Scott Himsel helped USAG and Nassar come up with cover stories as to why Nassar wasn’t attending events in Summer 2015 and helped coordinate interactions with the FBI in Indianapolis and LA
• For a decade, Bewley was the primary person Penny consulted on issues related to sexual abuse
• Banned Steve Infante in 2008 for alleged sexual misconduct in 1998, but did not report to police

My concerns are mainly around Bewley and Himsel. It appears that Bewley was responsible for developing the athlete safety policies for at least a decade, which clearly were inadequate or were not implemented. If you are revising a policy, you generally need to know what the problem is so that you can develop policy to address issues. Was she aware of sexual abuse complaints? Did she develop any policies that made it more difficult for Nassar (eg. not allowing him to be alone with athletes, not having athletes in his room) to offend? Were coaches, parents, athletes all aware of the policies and had a clear way to communicate to USAG that policies were not being followed?

Furthermore, I think it is a conflict of interest for Bewley to be representing USAG on USOPC. She was in the perfect position to paint a positive picture of how USAG had comprehensive policies and procedures to ensure the safety of athletes. Does USOPC report to USOC?

Himsel…why did he participate in a cover up? If he was responsible for communicating with the FBI, why was there such a delay in getting the FBI on board?

Anyway, found this article interesting and thought I would share it. Would really like to hear others thoughts. Apologies if this has already been discussed elsewhere!

 

[Passion]

I can’t recall there being any controversy at the time…

Don Peters.

Chalked Up was released in April '08. Sey wrote about Don and Doe in the book.

 

[emmade]

Ahh, that is right. Don Peters.

Am I just being ridiculous thinking there is a massive conflict of interest going on here???