That is not the final result. Final result is still pending. And yes, a minor’s name was released. Suspension is lifted but he has not been cleared. (Or the last I heard.) just because the suspensions are lifted, does not mean a decision has been made. If you knew the history of the case I’m involved with, you would understand the annoyance.
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I get the annoyance regardless. I would not want to have to deal with something like that. What I mean is, it’s a GOOD process that their suspension got lifted just from their attorney. The way people talk here and on Facebook SS just goes half cocked suspending people with no investigation. Personally I’d rather they talk their time to get it right. It benefits the accused and it benefits the victims.
Not getting into details but if you disagree with the short suspension I hope you said something.
I do agree with blasting the name of the accused as well. Jim Giorgio who has been all over Facebook blasting SS was convicted of child molestation and extortion. He got a suspended sentence and no longer has to register as a sex offender. That’s SS working.
Another on the list Randall Cates sued his local organization over the ban. He lost. The parents called the police however, without the daughters cooperation they couldn’t get a case. The evidence they did have was the girl’s diary entries and about 2,000 texts which both the girl and Cates said were fabricated.
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As any trial or hearing or hell, meeting, is annoying. But having a system in place was necessary and well past timely. Systems are generally slow, because people are trying their best to get things right and protect the community.
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I did. I told them they should have spoken to the accused first before making them pay fees and hire an attorney to remove the suspension. I don’t believe in releasing names, especially of minors, without allowing someone to defend themselves at least at the most basic level.
I was also made the superiors aware of dangerous practices towards witnesses and victims.
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Thank you for the info.
Minors I agree with and hopefully it was a one off mistake. I disagree with your first statement. If g-you want law enforcement to handle this than it will be way more expensive. Lawyers, bail, court fees. That’s life when people get caught in the system. That doesn’t mean we throw it out.
They did defend themselves at a basic level. Attorney sent letter. They could have sent a letter. At any time they can request a hearing. If they don’t and just sit there waiting well that’s on them. Even in court the defense does a lot of preparation and strategy. Even jury picking. Experts are hired to help.
Also I added to my post you quoted about where it’s fabulous.
I hope things work out.
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http://annepolliauthor.com/uncategor…threats-oh-my/
Hey guys! We have cutsie screen names…And because it was mentioned, the list people are interested in is for my boarding options and it is not being taken from the go-fund me for the family. That’s just sick.
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This case is not cut and dry. As I said, I can’t discuss the details but once everything is settled, I will. I will even give details as to how safesport conducted my interview etc. none was handled professionally and it left me wide open to backlash from the accusers and their gossip circle.
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I’m sorry you are going through it. I feel that, that person who is name sharing needs to not work there. That is unprofessional. It’s not right.
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Does the accused have to (or would be prudent to) hire a lawyer for the proceedings?
I believe so. They also have to pay for all the arbitration fees I believe. The expenses fall on the accused.
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I haven’t screen shot and submitted anything, but I assume (yes, there’s that word) that what is being screenshot and submitted is not basic disagreement with Safesport. We can all agree, disagree, and work to make it better. What I assume (yes, there’s that word) is the scary stuff is being screenshot - the threats to AK, the ranting that the victim should be tried for murder, the victim blaming, and, yes, the convicted child molesters being fully supported in their attempts to get off the list.
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Nah. We are just lock step with Safe sport hiding behind cutsie screen names. LadyJ nailed it when she said the hill these people die on is getting pinched for drugging and child molestation.
I always admired RG. But like I did with my friend and mentor, nope walk away. There is some good discussion going on, on Facebook. And in those discussions people admit to knowing. They are civil because they are having the struggle I had with the person I knew. My struggle just didn’t happen on Facebook. Putting stuff out like that on Facebook has only one intent.
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I have also noticed that the true professionals haven’t had this BS on their Facebook pages.
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@Denali6298 - thanks for sharing a link to that cute little blog. My oh my.
This thread jumps around quite a lot, and I am certainly guilty of going off on tangents… but here I go.
Back to some of the insanity on Facebook. You know -shaming and online bullying and all that. Let’s talk about that a bit more.
I went back and read the link to the article about John Lipari that was posted earlier. Here’s a link for anyone who didn’t read it … upsetting stuff.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com…708-story.html
Then I got confused slightly about which California professional it was who had been vocal on Facebook in the wake of RGs passing was connected by marriage to this terrible Lipari story. I assumed the former brother in law quoted in this article was the person, and looked at his Facebook Page to see what was going on because this whole connection between multiple stories involving the sexual abuse of minors (the stories of those abused by Lipari are terrible - good for them for speaking about their experiences) and multiple people in a relatively small equestrian community in one corner of the country is pretty extreme by any standard. And supposedly, someone connected to multiple figures who have been publicly accused of profound sexual abuse of minors was on Facebook speaking out AGAINST Safe Sport?
So I looked at this person’s public Facebook page.
And wow. Just wow.
There is a long post 4 days ago about how “wrong” what “happened” to Jimmy Williams and RG is. 100 plus comments follow, but in one of this person’s own comments, he mentions he was connected with an Olympic Committee a few years ago, and had gotten Safe Sport training in that capacity 4-5 yrs ago as they were first developing training and Safe Sport guidelines. Which confuses me as I didn’t think training or guidelines were available 4-5 yrs ago. But I am not involved in the Olympics in any way shape or form. Looking at his public page, From what I can gather, he’s currently affiliated with Modern Pentathlon. I’m completely ignorant when it comes to our Olympic Pentathlon program, and who is involved in selection and coaching, etc. But the connection to ANY Olympic team was stunning, given the positions he puts forth in a public post about Jimmy Williams and Safe Sport, and victims coming forward years after the offenses occurred with allegations of sexual offenses against minors.
The primary post on the topic publicly, repeatedly, speaks about how wrong “what was done to Jimmy Williams” was. He apparently loved Jimmy like a brother. That was the way it was in California back then (coaches sleeping with minors). “Everyone” knows people who were guilty of this stuff, but it’s wrong to bring it up now as part of a Safe Sport Investigation because it was different then. And coaches and professionals who were part of that world shouldn’t be sanctioned and banned now. Because it’s terrible and wrong to do so - people could lose their livelihoods.
I sincerely hope US Pentathlon takes these post into account when thinking about who they want to associate with going forward.
A few people did speak up and politely, and push back in the 100 plus comments in response to his post. Others AGREE with his sentiments. But in a truly surreal comment on his own post in response to someone pushing back on the central premise that victims speaking up about being sexually abused by coaches when they were minors is actually something we really shouldn’t shut down because it happened a long time ago, and that’s just how it was in California… he says…
Copied and pasted from his own comment on his own public post so that I quote accurately
“ME-TO” is a movement to come forward and express yourself for the time in ur life where u were compromised
Not to wait 25-30-35-40 yrs after someone is no longer with us, or incapacitated where a woman or man comes forward and their story now has been embellished or a wandering memory
Surely there are REAL MEMORIES, then there are Blood Sucking Memories just to ruin someone
Just like what happen to our Dear Friend RG
I AM SORRY, but I can tell you, what happening the 60’s thru the 80’s. We had many s pretty young EQUESTRISN who could not keep their tips clipped and their bottoms tight
Many careers are being ruined
These people are NOT GUILTY UNTIL PTOVEN INNOCENT!
”
End of quoted Facebook comment.
For the record, I DO hope people close to the investigation have a screenshot of this comment, and I do hope it is sent to USEF and Safe Sport. I do NOT think that amounts to anyone “bullying” a grown man. This comment is by a grown man, about women who were apparently MOLESTED as juniors by coaches he “loves like brothers.” It’s a nasty thing for any person who previously or currently is involved with coaching junior equestrians to say about young women. Period. Full Stop.
I do hope USEF and Safe Sport are serious about following up with sanctions for people who are engaging in this sort of commentary online about victims who reported to Safe Sport regarding the RG matter, or the Jimmy Williams matter. Either we are at the beginning of a new era in youth sports, and people who go through Safe Sport training take it seriously… or they don’t buy into it, and are still going to justify behavior that is criminal and abusive now, and was criminal and abusive then. Even in California in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s.
Discussions and concerns about Safe Sport processes are one thing. People are entitled to their opinions, and if there are ways to improve the processes, that’s a good thing. But posts on Facebook alleging people who came forward about being abused by Jimmy Williams (we know details because the victims shared their stories publicly), and posts about other anonymous victims who obviously shared with Safe Sport experiences with RG as minors that resulted in a lifetime ban from sport… describing the teenage girls they once were in this manner, and describing any victim of sexual abuse, and process of them coming to terms with their memories years after the fact and deciding to come forward in THIS manner?
It’s absolutely Awful.
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I made the mistake of reading some of the comments on USEF’s statement about this.
I understand that it is very upsetting that a life has been lost. But I also find it upsetting that people genuinely believe that horse professionals should somehow be held to a different standard than the rest of the working world? I don’t have a constitutional right to be a lawyer. There are all kinds of ways you can screw up your livelihood for yourself by engaging in unethical, immoral, undesirable, or even illegal behaviors. Does anyone scream about the 5th/14th amendments when a lawyer, doctor, dentist, massage therapist, psychologist, physical therapist, cosmetologist, teacher, school bus driver, nurse, elder care giver, etc. etc. loses their job and/or license for doing unsavory things as a result of an administrative process with or without an associated court case? What if you specifically think of sexually abusing children as the unsavory thing? There are far lesser evils that can make you more probably than not unfit for your profession according to your respective administrative body. And the administrative decision permanently revoking your license is published. To where you can’t do your job at all. Not just you can’t do your job at certain events but if people still want to hire you privately, that’s cool.
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Against my better judgement, I’m going to wade back in here and say I agree with all of this.
and I still have concerns about SafeSport.
Perhaps because I don’t believe investigators are entirely unbiased…EVER. Perhaps because I don’t trust the system and I know it doesn’t always get it right. Perhaps because someone on this thread said this about someone found innocent of the allegations:
What was he doing to even get on the radar? That is not someone I want to be associated with.
I feel the same same about Safe Sport. Yes safe sport found Tommy Serio innocent but I do not want to be around people, even if it’s not his fault, that would alleged such a thing. It makes me ask what is the culture like to incite such an accusation that was found false? .
(FWIW - based on the structure of the quote, I can’t quite tell if she’s indicating she wouldn’t want to be around TS because ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire,’ even if this one didn’t happen to be…or if the reference is to the lack of morals of the accuser for bringing a false allegation. If I’m being kind, it’s the latter. But it feels like the former.
As a survivor, I really hate reading that my life was ruined. It wasn’t. My life may be different than I had planned (whose isn’t) and I may deal with things others don’t…although based on the number of women who have experienced sexual abuse, probably not…but it’s not ruined. Impacted, yes. Ruined, no. Some survivors life’s have been ruined. Was Anne Kursinski’s life ruined? It’s up to her decide…not people on the internets.
Now, I know that is going to be really hard for some people to read without labeling me as being just fine and dandy with sexual abuse/molestors/predators, but do what you need to. I’m not going to change your mind.
on a side note: I do wonder if an insurance agent will start offering business interruption insurance that covers false allegations and not just the standard types of coverage. We’d perhaps start seeing more data about how many interim measures are taken and how many of the accused prevail. I’m mostly joking: my experience in insurance makes me think about risk mitigation, but i’m guessing that the risk of loss is too high 
This whole thing somewhat blows my mind. The last year or two has become the time when many victims came forward about many well known people.
<snip>
Were all of these signers having the same response then - innocent until proven guilty in court? Or were they supporting the victims who finally felt they could step up? Taking Me Too to heart?
I would imagine they had an easier time because 1) they don’t know the people involved and 2) the accusations were made publicly. They can name the accusers of Weinstein, Louis CK, Kavanaugh. They can’t do that for RG so it’s harder for them to grasp. With their behaviour, I don’t think they should know…but as a whole, public allegations are much easier to support and harder to dismiss.
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That’s part of what made McLain Ward’s decision so weird.
But from the mid-level pros I’ve especially enjoyed that Dany Goldstein’s wedding is more offensive to these people than sexually assaulting a child.
Oh, and the USDF region page who also decided to run with Kathy’s rant. It’s cool cause I don’t live in Region 9 anymore, so that was an easy unfollow.
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Yeah my list is getting shorter. I was shocked by her statement. I am just so disgusted. We all know they won’t stop showing and supporting the USEF despite signing the petition. I mean some of them are like oh I’ll just pay the non-member fee. Where do you think that goes dum dum?
I truly get dealing with something like this when you know someone. Got the damn t-shirt and spent the night throwing up. I do not get the ‘circle the wagons’ part.
McClain in a very diplomatic way said I support everyone who’s outraged. I thought his statement stupid. Okay you made a video. Here’s a cookie. Clearly he hasn’t come to terms with who his father was.
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@RugBug what I meant by that was I do not want to be around vindictive people nor do I like being in a culture that fosters that. I’m a victim too. I’ve also had a friend and mentor get thrown in jail for child molestation with an infant. I kept my struggle off Facebook like the rest of us who were friends with him. I sure as hell didn’t rally any troops in his defense. I walked away. I don’t want to be around it and refuse.
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