Washington Post Calls For Congressional Exam of USA Swimming

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 28. THE Washington Post's editorial board today called for members of the United States Congress to dig deeper into claims that USA Swimming covered up or did next to nothing about Rick Curl's years of sexually abusing a teenage swimmer in the 1980s.

Today's editorial stems from a statement made by Kelly Davies Currin last week after Curl was sentenced to seven years in prison for five years of sexual assault while she was a member of the Curl-Burke Swim Club. In her statement, Currin did not name specific executives in USA Swimming, but said the organization was aware of the abuse but did not begin to seriously investigate until 2011.

In the editorial, the Washington Post writes that Montgomery County Circuit Judge Marielsa A. Bernard “rejected Mr. Curl's plea for probation on the grounds that he redeemed himself in subsequent years, saying it was important to send a message that criminals will be held accountable no matter when they are caught. The same principle should apply to those who could have taken action against Mr. Curl sooner.”

The editorial also puts blame on the University of Maryland and officials there who received letters from Currin's parents in the 1980s alleging Curl of sexual misconduct, yet did not act accordingly when Curl was a university employee.

The Washington Post puts the onus on Congress to conduct the investigation into USA Swimming, since it was Congress that established USA Swimming upon the creation of the Amateur Sports Act in 1978.

Full text of Washington Post editorial

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