The FB comments are quite in line with what you’d expect for a long-time industry pro of note, who has been around. Going by that alone, The Son of Bernie clearly has a reputation amongst women who have met him and this arrest has completely affirmed what people have been saying since he got sniped by Safesport.
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which FB group
I just thought it was ironic that Bernie was claiming he didn’t like SS because their process doesn’t have all the constitutional protections, and now his son will face criminal trial with all the nice constitutional protections. If he pleads or is found guilty, SS can ban him (Michael) simply by judicial disposition, without having to investigate further.
I wonder if the criminal charges were the outcome of SS referring the case to the authorities.
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On the COTH page. From what I’ve seen, the news hasn’t spread far yet, as there’s basically nothing but COTH and some local news farts about it.
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The bail amount is very serious… I find that noteworthy.
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$1,000,000 is “We don’t want to let you out, but we will if we have to!” bail. It’s intended to keep certain kinds of offenders with certain backgrounds off the street, but it still gives them the chance to get out, if they want to go to the trouble of liquidating or potentially forfeiting their assets. That being said, he might stay in for a bit and get out on bail, but the damage and lock-out will be in place to keep him from doing much and he might even get the ole ankle bracelet treatment that keeps him confined to whatever places he’s allowed to be without doing harm.
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To me this reaction isn’t even about the offender or the accused - it’s really about the person saying it. It’s the response of someone who is psychologically shielding themselves from the truth, because they cannot or will not process the fact that someone they knew and perhaps cared about did something terrible.
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Oh, I absolutely agree! They cannot fathom that someone they thought of as friendly and generous, or someone they admired for being a fantastic, noble horseman could also be a manipulative slime ball.
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Anyone reading George’s last book would in no way doubt SS allegations against him. My jaw dropped reading the things he admitted to proudly in that book.
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I think in the vast majority of the cases people assume if it didn’t happen to them then it didn’t actually happen to anyone because why would they choose someone besides them?
That said, I think Traurig deserves his own thread rather than being added onto this one
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Bernie has distanced himself from Michael for a long time. From firsthand knowledge, I can say this: Michael has been creepy and weird for years, and many of the now grown/then adolescent local girls will confirm this. Snarky comments about the girls and their bodies, to their faces, and getting away with it because of the joking manner. Pestering them verbally, but never touching. He also developed very a noticeable alcohol problem in the last 5-8 years, particularly evident after his girlfriend left him. I wouldn’t have pegged him for a pedophile, but he definitely had a weird vibe, and I wasn’t at all surprised to hear about the assault and sexual assault allegations with grown women. Suffice it to say that his mugshot made the local rounds, and went to KY, MT, CO, IL and MA pretty damn fast through that network of young women who knew him as girls. I don’t know anyone around here that will bail him out.
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Bernie himself has a weird vibe, and an outrageous amount of arrogance. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…
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Isn’t Bernie’s current wife, one of his former students? He’s been married to at least four women at this point and I know there’s an age gap between him and his current wife, who runs his business.
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That’s what I recollected. And why I think that Bernie’s decision to revoke his USEF membership in 2019 was actually about RG and GM… and has nothing to do with the current situation with his son.
Given reports from people such as yourself who have firsthand knowledge, I think it is fair to say that Bernie failed to raise his son with a value system that prioritizes treating women with respect.
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I think one has to ask the pertinent question of whether or not Bernie was actually a father to Michael, beyond whatever parental efforts his first marriage resulted in. From the look of things, Bernie just walked from one woman to another and Michael may have simply been left on his own in that regard and left with his Mother. There doesn’t seem to be much out there about Michael, beyond the surface of being a professional rider for years.
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I know plenty of people who grew up in homes with busy parents, poor parenting, arrogant or absent fathers, etc, who didn’t become felons, so I’m not going to speak to that. I don’t know Bernie personally, but I know many people who do, who like him. Bernie does garner a lot of respect professionally from a lot of people, and has many friends. As to arrogance and womanizing, well, that’s often par for the course for professional athletes. Focusing solely on Michael, I think it can’t have been easy growing up as a physical carbon copy of a famous parent. However, again, that doesn’t make you a pedophile. The word that comes up over and over again about Michael is pervy, as in “I left that barn because he was so pervy” and he gave an icky vibe even as he would say hello or be friendly. In more recent years, one would see him at the local hangout, absolutely obliteratingly drunk, and it was just sad. I didn’t board my horses where he taught, so I never had to deal with him. As well, he’s a little guy. Never felt physically threatening—-which was obviously the wrong call, since he has assaulted multiple people.
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The letter states why senior Traurig resigned: “I feel the best move I can make to protect myself and my family from this flawed system and any potential false accusations that could ruin me financially, is to relinquish my memberships immediately…”
Sounds like it was all about protecting himself…
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Interesting, and good job zoning in on details.
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It’s funny. When all those moms were worried about their kid being falsely accused I replied, "Your kid is more likely to be an abuser than be falsely accused and oh the backlash I got!
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The best way to protect yourself and your family is just not to abuse anyone, and not to do anything that could be construed as abuse.
Doesn’t seem like that should be a difficult concept but I guess it is for some?
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