WAG No sponsorship, thanks to Nassar....

[Gymmommy71]

Didn't know about the 1M severance to Penny. Seems like a payoff/hush money to me. Smh.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

If you create a culture where predators feel safe to prey you bear some responsibility.

Changes need to be made to keep children safe. If you are an organization that in any way works with kids it is your responsibility as an organization to have procedures and policies in place to provide as safe an environment as possible.

That means things like no closed doors. No one on one contact.

My dentist office has no walls. My priest is never alone with our altar servers and the doors are never closed. The kids put their robes on in the back public room where anyone can see or walk. My OB doesn't do any exam without a nurse in the room. If my kid takes a private lesson at gym I must be there. Other parents could take my kid to a meet. Not the coaches.

Seriously there are ways to make things safer.

And the best way to keep a kid safe is to make sure they know boundaries. No adult should be asking them to keep secrets. No adult should be held in such a regard that a child feels they have no right to question and to say they are not comfortable. It is 100 percent OK to say No. And it is OK to TELL.

For the record, should my kid be harmed at gym, church, school, wherever the only conversation that would take place with any organization would be me informing them of my taking it to law enforcement.

 

[gymmomx2]

If you create a culture where predators feel safe to prey you bear some responsibility.

Changes need to be made to keep children safe. If you are an organization that in any way works with kids it is your responsibility as an organization to have procedures and policies in place to provide as safe an environment as possible.

That means things like no closed doors. No one on one contact.

My dentist office has no walls. My priest is never alone with our altar servers and the doors are never closed. The kids put their robes on in the back public room where anyone can see or walk. My OB doesn't do any exam without a nurse in the room. If my kid takes a private lesson at gym I must be there. Other parents could take my kid to a meet. Not the coaches.

Seriously there are ways to make things safer.

And the best way to keep a kid safe is to make sure they know boundaries. No adult should be asking them to keep secrets. No adult should be held in such a regard that a child feels they have no right to question and to say they are not comfortable. It is 100 percent OK to say No. And it is OK to TELL.

For the record, should my kid be harmed at gym, church, school, wherever the only conversation that would take place with any organization would be me informing them of my taking it to law enforcement.

Also no kid should be afraid to lose their National Team status for reporting abuse, sexual or otherwise. I have to believe this played a part in whether abuse got reported.

 

[chalkbowl]

I just ran across the Mertes v. USA Gymnastics court case that went down a few years ago. Definitely worth a read for those interested in how USAG has handled some of these types of cases in the past as well as what they are up against. It's a PDF file so I can't directly link it, but a quick google search will find it pretty easily.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

I just ran across the Mertes v. USA Gymnastics court case that went down a few years ago. Definitely worth a read for those interested in how USAG has handled some of these types of cases in the past as well as what they are up against. It's a PDF file so I can't directly link it, but a quick google search will find it pretty easily.

https://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&sour...ggcMAA&usg=AFQjCNE3jvwafP0i08eqAKn-v7PJaq8Epw
I think this is the one that you mean?

 

[ayyyrial]

To summarize that PDF, it sounds like Mertes, a coach, was indicted with charges of sexual misconduct with a minor and USAG revoked his membership. He was found not guilty and subsequently re-applied to USAG for membership. USAG denied him membership based on not only those charges, but also other allegations of sexual misconduct that never became criminal cases. Mertes went before a hearing panel of USAG's ethics committee to apply for reconsideration and the panel again denied him. He then tried to get that decision arbitrated through the American Arbitration Association; that PDF is the AAA's decision. The arbitrator found that the USAG bylaws do not permit arbitration of membership decisions and dismissed the complaint.

 

[notthatmom]

Also no kid should be afraid to lose their National Team status for reporting abuse, sexual or otherwise. I have to believe this played a part in whether abuse got reported.

This played a HUGE part in why things never got reported. The girls were too scared to.