Sex Abuse Survivors & Their Lawyer Call On Tim Hinchey To Purge USA Swimming Of ‘Enablers’

BobAllardSexAbusUSASwimming

Debra Grodensky, Tracy Palmero and Suzette Moran, three survivors taking legal action against USA Swimming over historic sex abuse, and the lawyer representing them, Bob Allard, have called on Tim Hinchey, the USA Swimming chief executive, to dump ‘enablers’ in the organisation.

They claim that employees who covered up sex abuse under Chuck Wielgus, the former and late CEO, are still working for USA Swimming. Details of the lawsuit were first reported by the Orange County Register.

Press conference announcing the filing of sexual abuse lawsuits against USA Swimming. from Corsiglia McMahon & Allard on Vimeo.

At a press conference to announce a set of three lawsuits filed against USA Swimming over abuse by swim coaches Andy King, Everett Uchiyama and Mitch Ivey, as reported by Swimming World yesterday, Allard said:

“Mr Hinchey: I believe you to be a good man with good intentions. True change cannot occur unless those who knew [about sexual abuse] and remained silent and did nothing are ousted from USA Swimming’s leadership.”

Wielgus, who died in 2017, was singled out in the latest round of challenges over historic sex abuse for continued heavily criticism of the kind that caused him to withdraw his name from the list of candidates for the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2014. Said Allard:

“Chuck Wielgus was the poster-boy ‘bad guy’ within this organization. He’s now gone. But he did not act alone. Not even close. He had the cooperation of a very large board of directors and a very large management team. There are people who remain in leadership positions today within USA Swimming who go way back to even the days of Debra Grodenski in the late ’80s, early ’90s. And if it means to blow things up to replace all these people with some good people, then that’s what we have to do. That’s where it starts.”

Grodensky, a victim of King’s abuse in the 1980s, named three people she says knew about his sex abuse crimes, did not act but remain in leadership positions at USA Swimming to this day.

Here are some key resources related to the theme of sexual abuse in sport:

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