.Victims’ Lawyers Call USA Swimming’s Plan to Fight Sex Abuse “Flawed” and “Vague”

Responding to a report yesterday that USA Swimming has unveiled a seven-point plan to address sex abuse by its swim coaches, three lawyers representing three alleged victims of abuse say that they’re concerned the plan is “flawed because it does not meet sexual misconduct prevention criteria….” They also called the plan “vague,” said it was thrown together “for public relations purposes,” and “does not truly address the issue and does not prevent or minimize the risk of sexual misconduct and sexual abuse directed toward young female swimmers by USA Swimming swim coaches.”

According to the statement released by USA Swimming yesterday, their plan includes: disseminating guidelines addressing acceptable coach behavior, enhancing the system for reporting abuse, reviewing the organization’s code of conduct and comparing it to other youth organizations, reviewing USA Swimming’s background screening program, increasing communication with member clubs, and educating parents and coaches about the issue, among others. As we reported earlier, USA Swimming’s background check policy was only instituted in 2006, long after coaches like Andrew King had been abusing swimmers for years. King was a longtime swim coach in the Bay Area who was sentenced to forty years in prison in January for child molestation charges dating back to 1978. USA Swimming’s policy wouldn’t have flagged King anyway, since he had never been convicted or charged with a crime until recently, although there were criminal investigations into his misconduct. Officials with USA Swimming have said that some 36 coaches have been suspended in a ten-year period for sexually abusing their swimmers.

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