Tom Harvey of Quail Valley Farm in Georgia (Dressage and Eventing) has been sanctioned by Safesport, for allegations of misconduct. No further information at this time.
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Don’t these people get that their kind is getting busted left and right?!
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They don’t care. When the last time one of these abusers received many years in prison? They play the odds, keep delaying and hope the witnesses will refuse to be subjected to deposition questioning, harassment by the perv’s buddies, and shamed for being a victim.
I know nothing was the victim’s fault, but so many times victim shaming happens. Look at the huge blowups after the big early cases, where victims were vilified. Sadly, people I’ve known about have been pressured to keep quiet by relatives, who just want to keep it quiet. I think trying to hide what happened is shameful, not being victimized.
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The shame should rest only upon the perpetrator. Never on the victimized.
I know the innocents often feel the shame but I wish it weren’t so.
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I was going to say this too. That’s about the number of pro Bono hours most bar associations assume an individual attorney should do as a personal.
So yeah, it’s not a huge lot of free work, especially if that’s for the entire time AES has been around.
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The more I look at AES, the more it seems like a scam. I have found no evidence of anything they claim to have done or of actual association with the names they claim to be associated with, beyond Robert Dover, Diane Carney, and some others. That LGBQT lobbying firm they claimed to have gotten into bed with filed no paperwork stating they were working with them and those “big name lawyers” they claim stepped on board to “take up the good fight” haven’t so much as farted quietly about any association with them.
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Depending on the state, only some hospitals even do rape kits. They will turn away victims who may not have transportation to the hospital that does. Even at hospitals that do and have trained staff, the victim may run into staff that are unsympathetic at the least and actively discouraging and more often skeptical. Not all staff may be trained to do a rape kit or not know they are supposed to call in a rape specialist on staff and the victim may be so traumatized they are unable to bear the procedure. LE may or may not be sympathetic, regardless of training and undetected sexual predators may hide in their ranks. Then there are depositions and court where the standard defense is to blame the victim regardless of DNA collected, photographic and X-ray/MRI and doctors notes of injuries, witness statements, etc. The judge may be sympathetic to the rapist. The rapist may be charismatic and very charming. If there is no forensic evidence of rape then it hinges on who is more believable and that has nothing to do with whether or not the rape happened. Child rapists in particular are incredibly manipulative and charm the parents. Then there is the rape kit backlog which still exists though Senators Cornyn and Feinstein helped with funding. The rape doesn’t stop at the rape end. The horror continues. Even if the rapist goes to jail, eventually they are eligible for parole and then the victims are notified so they can write the parole board every year, reliving everything.
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The subject of rape in contex of violent attack is not, generally, what is being discussed here. That is where rape kits usually come in to play.
It is coercive sex of an under aged or vulnerable person.
Carry on
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Coercive sex of an underage or vulnerable person if under the age of consent in the state in which it happens is rape. SafeSport goes beyond the myriad state definitions of rape to include minors under a certain age. Rape kits can come into play if it is reported whether or not physical violence took place. Emotional trauma and victim shaming and blaming have no age restrictions.
Edited for a typing error and to include that there is a time limit on retrieving DNA during a rape kit. However, for children, evidence of tearing or VD may be obtained during a physical inspection. For older children and adults, it helps if there is a “me too” support of other women and girls coming forward. Coming forward alone is incredibly difficult. The younger the child, the less they are believed.
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So I have been surprised to see him (Brian Gruber) and the wife at shows all of Fall 2022. Why is he allowed to be there? i’ve asked but no one seems to know….
Also: “weaponizing Safe Sport?” That pushed the red alert button for me.
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When I read “mainstream media” I understood it to mean general news outlets, rather then sport specific national media, such as COTH, Dressage-News, USHJA’s Instride magazine, etc.
The media list they gave - ABC, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, etc. - reflects that. Not one equestrian news outlet is listed.
I didn’t perceive any partisanship or bias. Is here another term they should have used to convey widely accepted news outlets ?
New details:
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This includes some safe sport statistics for horse sports.
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Did COTH not report on Sam berry? I find that interesting given they’ve mentioned nearly everyone else receiving similar sanctions, I thought? Don’t know the guy, just saw the name.
He used to claim that he groomed for Christopher Reeve (nothing like using a dead guy as a reference) and that he was an Army Ranger (as an Army wife, there’s no way in hell he was ever in the service). He has a very active fantasy life.
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WHAT?!?!
Just when I thought I couldn’t find this guy more distasteful… I hear about this.
And I totally agree that there is no chance this guy was an Army Ranger. It’s ridiculous to try and lie about something like that in the NoVa area. So many people here have ties to the military, either past or present.
What a mess.
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