He’s out on bail. https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/fellers-arrested-on-4-counts-of-sexual-abuse
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The victim apparently knew that he’d get bail , thus the sexual assault protective order against him.
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You are assuming an awful lot.
@oneequestrienne was posting about the issue and what she knew about it. Why speculate about her motive for posting here in such an unkind manner? . Apparently she did contact Safe Sport and USEF.
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First off, is this mostly going on in terms of discussions on individual’s private pages, and w/in the private and secret FB groups like the ISWG group?
I’ve only been looking at the 100% public posts, like the COTH article, and the comments on it.
Second, the term entrapment is a legal one. It refers to certain unethical tactics law enforcement can use during the course of an investigation to literally lure a target into committing a criminal act. I know there are folks who participate on these threads who have extensive professional experience in both law enforcement and criminal prosecution… and by all means, one of them can correct me if I am wrong… but to the best of my knowledge, if a victim of a crime engages in recorded or documented communications (texts or emails) with the perpetrator, and they discuss the specifics of the crime, and the perpetrator willingly and freely admits to criminal acts, and then the victim later turns over these communications to law enforcement during the course of a criminal investigation as evidence of the alleged crime… that is NOT the same thing as “entrapment.” Not at all.
Third, let’s talk about this whole “spoiled brat” description. My experience is that horse professionals in general are MORE than happy to work with “spoiled brats” and their parents when parents are paying top dollar for top notch instruction, paying hefty commissions in relation to buying and selling top tier ponies, and later competition horses for the ambitious little “spoiled brat,” and of course, when parents are paying all those hefty entry and related showing fees so that the “spoiled brat” can go out and compete. Professionals normally LOVE all of that. And refer to the minor as a “gifted young rider,” who is “serious” about the sport, and has great “potential.” I guess it’s only after the abuse that was happening behind closed doors comes to light, and Mom and Dad take their child, the horses, and the checkbook to a different program (one where adults in positions of trust and esteem don’t groom, manipulate, and have sex with minors and other students or employees) … well… it’s only then that people start talking about the young rider as a “spoiled brat.” Honestly… as a parent… there are times when I think the real “spoiled brats” are the horse professionals who RELY upon parents to shell out HARD EARNED MONEY in support of their child’s goals and dreams, but who then trash talk the family in the aftermath of situations like this. These “professionals” seem to be under the mistaken impression that they are ENTITLED to all this money that many loving (and wealthy) parents choose to spend on this sport, and that it is ok for them to ABUSE AND INSULT our children during the course of training and competition. 
No. The “spoiled brat” horse professionals who think behaving and acting and talking this way is acceptable/excusable, and that the gravy train will continue while they comport themselves in such a manner? That’s really something. People who get to earn a living while participating in a sport that most folks consider a luxury hobby should tread a little more lightly, and think a little harder about how they are representing their broader industry. Some of their clients earned quite a bit of the money that supports the industry because these clients have IQs 2 or more standard deviations above the mean, and a career and bank account that reflect this. These sorts of clients generally don’t care for it very much when uneducated horse pros insult them and their children, abuse children or young adults, or trash talk victims in the wake of situations like this. The professionals in the industry who have at least half a brain really need to start policing one another when it comes to all this stupid online commentary. USEF needs to get serious about the bullying components of SafeSport, and start handing out warnings and suspensions of a much more limited duration to the many many people who say stupid, ugly things, in writing, online, about young victims of abuse each time one of these high profile cases happens. Their continued tolerance for some of the UGLY UGLY commentary… it’s a problem on many levels.
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We can, but it is irrelevant to the topic at hand.
No minor should be abused by an adult, whether s/he is a spoiled brat or the world’s hardest working barn rat.
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Amen.
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This is really scary. I hope she stays safe, brave girl.
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Well, I agree with the second half, but disagree with the first.
Ill keep it shorter this time. 
I think the comments on FB concerning the victim in this matter being a “spoiled brat” are actually bullying. In fact… targeted bullying of a known SafeSport related victim of a crime. This is a pattern when it comes to high profile sexual abuse cases within our sport whenever the mob learns of the victim’s identity. When people who are active USEF members, and professionals engage in this specific sort of commentary, it is a violation of SafeSport code.
At this point, it has gone on for too long. USEF needs to start suspending people left and right who have engaged in this commentary. Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the portion of SafeSport code enforcement that falls on the NGBs to investigate and enforce (rather than that pertaining to full abuse cases which are handled by the Center and their investigators), well, that part of the code is designed SPECIFICALLY to address issues like this within a specific sport’s community.
So where is USEF on this? I know for a fact people have taken screenshots of many many FB comments, and the open online bullying of victims (from this case and prior cases) and reported it. Why is this continuing to be tolerated in this case at this time? It’s so toxic.
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Thanks for linking the updated COTH article. I guess the USEF statement in the article sort of spoke to my comments about the ongoing bullying of victims, but it wasn’t a strong enough statement, IMO, specifically in terms of the rampant bullying that is going on in the aftermath of these cases. I copied and pasted their specific statement for anyone else who is curious though…
The U.S. Equestrian Federation issued the following statement regarding Rich’s arrest.
“USEF strongly believes that sex abuse has no place in sport. Protecting athletes from all forms of abuse should be the collective concern of our community. USEF urges all participants to respect the privacy of the victim and her family at this time. Please be reminded that sexual abuse involving athletes under 18 must be reported to the U.S. Center for SafeSport and the authorities. Let’s stand together by supporting victims and survivors of abuse in our sport
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From the Oregon Courts website:
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR GETTING A SEXUAL ABUSE PROTECTIVE ORDER?
4. Ongoing Fear You are in reasonable fear for your physical safety.
Isn’t she out of state ? How terrifying for her that she’s afraid he’ll come after her.
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As the age of consent in Oregon is 18, and being it happened when the victim was 17 at the oldest, there cannot be any entrapment.
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“USEF needs to get serious about the bullying components of SafeSport, and start handing out warnings and suspensions of a much more limited duration to the many many people who say stupid, ugly things, in writing, online, about young victims of abuse each time one of these high profile cases happens. Their continued tolerance for some of the UGLY UGLY commentary… it’s a problem on many levels.”
Hmmmm…hand out suspensions for online comments, that reflect people’s misguided opinions.
I don’t think that’s in the rule book (thankfully).
There are social media rules for licensed officials but not for members.
https://www.usef.org/forms-pubs/3wwMXKTULKI/licensed-officials-social-media-policy
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The Kehring and Sellers families are enmeshed, socially and financially, so it would be hard for Maggie to avoid Richard, without a restraining order. Maggie’s Mama-Llama is apparently Savannah Feller’s business partner, in her Equestrian wares business. Maggie’s sister Katie was also one of Richard Feller’s riders, so you can understand how close the two families have gotten since Maggie took up with Richard at age 11, and how serious this really is.
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I can appreciate philosophically the importance of protecting a fundamental freedom for people to voice loudly, any and all misguided opinions about all sorts of topics, including SafeSport regulations and other USEF rules, regulations, etc.
But that’s actually not the specific issue I am saying they should crack down on.
Specifically, I am saying they should hand out suspensions to people who make repeated online comments about specific named victims of sexual abuse within the context of sport, such that those comments amount to obvious bullying and intimidation.
I believe there is a substantial difference between these two issues. Right now, you can go on Facebook and see comments by multiple, well known professionals in equestrian sport, who are also USEF members, and rely upon coaching and doing business with other USEF members, saying absolutely BRUTAL things about multiple victims of sexual abuse whose identities became public knowledge after a SafeSport investigation was completed, and penalties were announced.
There are many constitutional rights arguments that have been attempted when it comes to debating SafeSport regulations. And in general, I do firmly believe in freedom of speech. Even stupid, offensive speech. But this is targeted bullying, harassment and intimidation of specific members of a private club. And it’s flagrant.
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I think perhaps it is beyond USEF’s capabilities to sanction people for their online statements.
Wouldn’t they have to prove unequivocally who had written the post? I think that could be difficult, time consuming and expensive. They’d have to have people working for that purpose only, wouldn’t they?
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From what I’ve heard from multiple sources, she walked in on them. She knew.
Wow Lex. Was unaware of any of that.
I’m sad for Maggie. The weight of having something like this happen in secret within a group of related/otherwise closely tied people can be very heavy. It is not unusual for people in her situation to take onto themselves added responsibility concerning the potential negative fallout to ancillary relationships if/when the abuse becomes public. And that can add another layer of stress and pain to a tough situation, and cause a victim to put additional pressure on themselves to keep everything secret. Abusers often choose their targets in a calculated manner, factoring in these sorts of things, and manipulate ruthlessly to get what they want, and maintain control.
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It also makes you wonder how long he had been grooming her…and how long the abuse had been going on.
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Again, because it seems still to be a point of confusion: safe sport and usef are two separate entities. Usef must abide by/enforce safe sport decisions, they don’t make determinations of what falls under safe sport’s jurisdiction.
So whether usef can sanction people for x is not really a part of this conversation. If safe sport levies sanctions, usef is bound by law to acknowledge and enforce said sanctions.
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