I’m speechless.:eek:
In how many ways can one person display such an incredible level of ignorance about the subject, in two sentences and a paragraph?
Stunning. 
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I’ve read some of his FB posts. I didn’t know the other stuff. It makes me kind of sad. I know all humans have faults but not all humans are big ds*cks.
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Sorry, but the rampant victim blaming in the horse world is a bit much. The fact that some people genuinely believe that a false report of abuse means that any and all past, present, and future reports are invalid is absolutely insane. This logic does not fly on any level.
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Kindly break down my ignorance in the above statements, since I am clearly too obtuse to figure it out on my own. All I’m getting so far is that I’;m ignorant because I don’t share your viewpoint. That’s not ignorance, it’s disagreeing. But again, in the interest of being open-minded, I will gladly listen as you break it down for me.
If there is actual proof rather than one rumor, I will be the first in line to eat my words and condemn the guy. But when all that exists is one vague rumor and no one will step up, I call foul. Piling on works both directions. If the person who was let go and started the rumor admitted it was false, would that be enough, or would you still be looking?
Sure, there is victim blaming and that can be a reason for not coming forward. But it’s much more likely that not coming forward stems from a false allegation. Liars don’t like being exposed and hide when that becomes a possibility. And what about protecting other potential victims by coming forward to stop the guy?
Objectivity and even-handed evaluations and rational thought seems to be lost in the pile on mentality lately.
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Bolding is mine. That paragraph makes no absolutely sense and is all the break down needed.
Do you not see how you are contradicting yourself and how what you are saying shows ignorance of some of the behavior and problems encountered by people who have been abused ?
I don’t enjoy arguing. :no: However, it is very difficult to understand your point of view when you write those words.
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Someone please refresh my memory re: the allegations made here on COTH. My recollection is that an ex-working student came here to tell her story without naming names, but someone recognized the farm from photos posted here or elsewhere. As described, it was a classic quid pro quo harrassment; and what appeared to be retaliatory termination. The latter was complicated because the WS was hired for a job she wasn’t quite qualified to do.
When or how was it decided that the allegation was false or unsubstanstiated, and by whom?
I truly don’t remember that part.
I do remember the victim blaming started immediately, questioning how she had let herself get in the situation, she should have known it wasn’t a job she was qualified for, blaming her parents for letting her go to the WS position, all sorts of crap, but I don’t remember her actual description of the harassment being discredited.
In fact, I found that part of the story to be pretty credible; and my initial reaction to the story was that she was probably not the first nor the last.
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He only has a “fan” membership with USEF. Can’t kick someone out of a club they aren’t in, so not sure what recourse SafeSport would have even if there was a mountain of complaints.
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Being long-dead didn’t stop USEF from banning Jimmy Williams:
Based on substantial evidence, Jimmy Williams, though deceased, has been banned by USEF for sexual misconduct and his name has been removed from USEF achievement awards and honors.
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It didn’t stop them, no, but it took a long time and lot of campaigning from several very well-known and well-connected people. Plus JW had “legacy” things like awards/trophies/stadiums/etc that needed to be addressed somehow.
All I’m saying is that using the whole “if there was any legitimacy to these claims, SS would have nabbed him already” isn’t really a valid statement. I think we’ve barely even begun to see the dominoes fall in regard to SS bans and violations. Investigations and evidence collections take time. If there are OTHER reasons someone chooses not to believe the claims, then fine, but a lack of SS action thus far should not be counted as one of them. IMO nothing is known at this point, for or against.
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True enough but it’s Also true that if no SS reports have been filed against an individual, SS is unlikely to ‘nab’ that individual.
The anonymous individual who came out here to tell her story about DE has always had the SS option open to her. Maybe she was satisfied with putting it in public here. But it’s not the fault of SafeSport that the accused hasn’t been ‘nabbed’ if there are no reports against the accused. It’s also possible that an investigation is ongoing.
SafeSport is a good thing to have in place. No one is saying it’s easy to report SS situation and not everyone is going to be comfortable bringing their allegations to SS. But it’s there to serve an important purpose.
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Lets clarify a few things since I made the original comment.
This was not ONE incident. There were multiple
One of the accusers never publicly mentioned his name, this was when the metoo hadn’t started or had just started so outing people was not as easy. An article was written and people figured it out. It was a few years ago, can’t remember exactly when.
I have spoken with one person in person, who is a professional who also had a similar story.
Others have heard similar stories. Can not confirm those but there are at least 2 victims of his harassment as far as I can see and we all know predators don’t stop at one or two.
Also, there is something in the works about this now and you will be hearing more soon. Whether people choose to believe or not is there prerogative but I believe it is true and therefore I have removed myself from anything related to DE. Even gave away his book I had bought.
SS wasn’t in effect when this information first became available. If he isnt a USEF member or at shows etc it really has no bearing on him.
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I know nothing of alleged claims of improper conduct against DE, so I won’t speak to that.
However, I live in Vermont and have interacted with him on several occasions. He acts IRL the same way he comes across on his social media pages. The one clinic I attended as an auditor - along with a friend who was riding in it - left us both a bit baffled. He spent half the time listening to his own voice, completing ignoring the student paying a pretty penny for an hour private with him. His ramblings had nothing to do with the student, the horse or anything, really. Actually, it sounded quite a bit like one of his FB rantings.
His social media pages are an echo chamber for his adoring followers - challenging him at all gets you mocked, banned or both. A lot of his followers seem to thrive on and enjoy his combative style. I find him to be a putz, and I don’t feel like any level of achievement permits one to be rude.
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Jealoushe, the DE accuser posted her experiences in 2018.
USEF SafeSport was launched in December 2013.
I’m not commenting on the validity of any allegations. My point is that there is a system in place to investigate these allegations and sanction individuals for these violations.
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Well dang. I didn’t always agree with the posts on Facebook, but I do like the slow and steady approach that he totes.
Didn’t know any of this other stuff. Truly unfortunate.
Does make you wonder why he only has a fan membership…
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Did anyone know about SS then? Legit question. Seems like it only became apparent it existed when members were forced to do the training.
I can’t really blame victims for not coming forward. Going through any process legal or not is hell when you’re the victim.
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That is disappointing.
I had assumed someone else does many of the (nonranting) educational postings as i could not see how he could ride seven hours and research some of the postings that are done and well presented.
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I did. I had to do the training in Canada as a coach.
It’s also hell to be publicly accused of things you didn’t do.
I’m saying this because it happened to a very good person in my work circle, someone I’ve known for 25 years. He was completely blindsided by false allegations and was forced to resign from a job that he’d fought so hard for and loved so much.
His friends rallied around him, told him to stay strong, etc. He was completely shellshocked.
No real investigation was done. Numerous people maneuvered to take advantage of the situation for their own ambitions.
You can read more about it here.
Again, I’m not making any assumptions about the validity of any allegations regarding DE. I’m restating that there is a mechanism for reporting and investigating those allegations if an accuser wants to take action with respect to USEF and also that the accuser can do so with anonymity.
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The US Center for Safesport as the centralized body for investigations was not established until 2018. While I believe training was available for licensed USEF officials prior to that, the general membership did not receive training (or widespread awareness) prior to 2018 and there was no independent body to report to outside of USEF prior to that. A system isn’t much help if the people who are supposed to leverage it don’t know it exists.
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Do you think a working student would be aware of these options available to them before 2019/2020? I don’t.
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If we’re talking about this story, then yes:
https://eventingnation.com/anonymous-dont-let-anyone-take-your-power/
The SafeSport links ran with the post.
Also, clarifying that it appears to be an employee and not a WS.
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