I don’t disagree with you, BUT that it is actually being skirted is just an interpretation, and not even an interpretation made by the governing body. But two things that are absolute in this universe:
Fro
SafeSport: It can be the topic that divides us or brings us together. Amongst all the discussion and controversy, I believe that we can agree that youth must have a safe environment in which to learn and grow. It is also important to recognize that each member deserves fairness and integrity in all that our sport provides. Horses give riders wings and the opportunity to practice leadership, sportsmanship, empathy, compassion and teamwork.
Amidst the many questions regarding SafeSport, I met with Michael Henry, acting chief officer for response and resolution from the U.S. Center for SafeSport (“The Center”). USHJA Executive Director Kevin Price, USHJA’s General Counsel Marianne Kutner, and I had a chance to ask Mr. Henry many questions regarding the processes that The Center has adopted.
The Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act was signed into law in 2018, establishing the U.S. Center for Safe Sport. This came about after some National Governing Bodies were found to have turned a blind eye to sexual misconduct within their sports.
SafeSport is a reality for the USHJA. We are bound under the Act for two reasons: the first is because Jumpers are part of the Olympic Movement; and second, we are an Amateur sports organization that participates in interstate athletic competition and our members include adults who are in regular contact with minor athletes.
One of the greatest concerns expressed by our membership is the extent to which fair and adequate procedural safeguards are afforded in the SafeSport process. Mr. Henry said that the SafeSport code calls for “fair notice and an opportunity to be heard.” He described that process in detail and the information is also available on <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001qY7RiUvepuM5QZ04ww_pIcg3ETBUO6q5OtJvnSRxy-ozl0_MZ4QWnmqQoIe1Jn_he-O6S51BeqMghI-ekKsS6GE8L_KbNbu-5Zd9WofXe6KxLbjJkRlto_fWYaIq9m9JMvCb85PVmm0JQPlASh5OhQ==&c=xzEd7vLdw_P0DmiXmuXszcpiFyYWhjdD-upP-w9-a0H1r_I3l0nnMg==&ch=IwKhB4Hkguoda36vJigLJDbnI1y_d2SmXDMRLOP4J1Ejw47MdqXy4w==">The Center’s website</a>. We further questioned the extent of the procedures provided prior to issuing a Temporary Suspension and Mr. Henry described it as follows:
When a complaint is received by The Center, a Temporary Suspension can be issued after an examination of three criteria: [LIST=1]
If these three criteria are met, the Temporary Suspension is issued in the form of a notification to the respondent and their sport federation. At that time, the respondent is offered a 72-hour window to ask for a hearing.
If a hearing is requested, it is typically conducted within 24 hours. The Center contacts JAMS (formerly known as Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services) and an independent arbitrator is assigned to the hearing. The arbitrator is not connected to The Center. The Center’s attorney presents an opening brief and the respondent, or their attorney, testifies. The arbitrator makes the decision as to whether the Temporary Suspension is upheld.
We asked Mr. Henry if The Center would consider a delay in adding a person to the list until after the hearing. His answer was that The Center, knowing that in their opinion the preponderance of the evidence supported a Temporary Suspension, would be uncomfortable having the respondent in the environment where they could potentially abuse another minor. The Center’s investigators are former FBI, Children’s Services, NCIS, and Title IX investigators, as well as judges and prosecutors. They receive additional training in sexual abuse cases.
It is our understanding that the USEF has scheduled a meeting with The Center to explore modification of the process of placing individuals on the Temporary Suspension list. On the surface, that may feel more comfortable to some, especially when the violation occurred many years in the past.
In the past 10 days, I have received several calls from people who as minors were victims of a sexual assault 20-plus years ago. To them, the assault is fresh in their mind and the trauma has had a profound effect on their life. It is possible that the person who assaulted them has become a better person and that they are no longer a threat to minors. However, if the respondent is still in a position where he or she poses a potential threat to minors, that postponement of publication to the Temporary Suspension list may have serious consequences.
It is important for all of us to strike a balance for our sport. Mr. Henry has shown me that he is willing to listen to ways in which the SafeSport code can be improved. We will meet with The Center as necessary and will press for change where change is appropriate.
As I continue to meet with The Center, I will keep you advised as to any further information or substantive changes. In the meantime, I hope that you will continue to [EMAIL="mbabick13@gmail.com"]send me feedback[/EMAIL], concerns and questions regarding SafeSport at [EMAIL="mbabick13@gmail.com"]mbabick13@gmail.com[/EMAIL]. Please remember that reports of abuse should go either to The Center or to law enforcement.
Serving you is our top priority, which means doing what's best for our members, supporters and our sport. Together, we can make sure that our sport is safe for all our members. Thank you for your membership. I truly appreciate it.
Sincerely,[/TD]
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Had SS made a statement on what the ‘aiding and abetting’ interpretation is? I’ve seen people, including myself, hazard guesses, but what is the official stance? Because the interpretations have different ramifications…and for me, one of them I can support (full industry ban) vs. the other, while I wouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, just makes me wonder what is really being accomplished.
For those interested, below are the SS definitions of Participant and outline of Aiding and Abetting:
If Safesport defines participant as:
and considers Aiding and Abetting to be (bolding mine…and what I think become the crux):
Aside: for those that think I should email SS for a response, I feel like we’ve heard how overwhelmed they are with cases…and just saw some numbers surrounding the volume. I’m not going to take up their time with my inquiry just so I can feel better about something I by and large agree with.
Which one do you think will haunt the child further:
not getting a hug after a fall
or
being molested without a safe venue to report the behavior ?
It’s rhetorical.
Who has received a lifetime ban or “lost their career” for publicly hugging a child?
Or to address the real question, who has lost their career due to what you perceive to be false allegations through the safe sport process?
It is not rhetorical.
Based on the posts I see, Rob Gage. Still just that one girl from 35 years ago when Rob was 20 and she was 17.
Midge, are you saying that in your estimation Rob Gage was banned due to a single consensual relationship he had at 20 with a 17yr old who has since accused him of sexual misconduct under safe sport? And also that those accusations have been documented as false?
Just making sure I’m understanding your comment.
I read somewhere that he had just turned 18 and she was one month shy of turning the same. He was banned for holding her hand in public… At church. And SS banned him anyway! :grief:
(above mockery is directed at the nut job people on Facebook, not the survivors or the situation itself.)
The story of the trainer who refused to publicly console a crying child is moronic. Maybe if all the up-in-arms innocent people in horse sports spent a few more minutes reading the rules than spreading misinformation and gossip, they wouldn’t have to worry about whether or not SS could wreck their lives. They’d see that they have nothing to worry about.
A mass of educated, rational people at horse shows or on social media? Dare to dream…
It’s sarcasm.
It was sarcasm. But I understand not seeing that as so many people seem to believe stories like this to be true! When that happens one tends to turn off their sarcasm meter.
Indeed, but the question to Kathy still remains.
Not what I think, but what most of the Safe Sport Overhaul group thinks. Nevermind that the math doesn’t work, the four women who came forward after the Oaks GP, or that even his friends say he had issues.
which is why I quoted Kathy’s post and asked her to clarify her statements regarding the multiple people who’ve lost their careers to false allegations lodged with safe sport. I suppose we’ll all be waiting a good long while.
sarchasm, to be precise.
That was my favorite Sniglet of all time.
Categories: Attorney Discipline, Disbarments
James Edward Kroetch [#95434], 68, of Orinda was disbarred effective August 22, 2018, ordered to notify clients of the discipline and perform other obligations under rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court. Kroetch was convicted of a misdemeanor count of possession of child pornography, a crime involving moral turpitude. Kroetch was found to have possessed thousands of images and videos of sexual acts with children, which he shared online with others. Kroetch had no prior record of discipline.
So for all those asking for more information on the exact meaning of “sexual misconduct with a minor” in order to determine the validity of the suspension - do you need to know exactly what type of porn this lawyer was found to have to know if his disbarment was “worthy”? No? Then why does it matter what the exact misconduct in RG’s case was?
SS opponents on FB would probably argue the “child pornography” was just images of coaches hugging their students after they fell off their ponies. :lol:
I just went through the SafeSport Centralized Disciplinary Database. I selected cases based on the following pair of criteria:
Criminal Disposition: 89.04% (n=260)
Non-Criminal Disposition: 10.96% (n=32)
Criminal Disposition - Involving a Minor: 64.04% (n=187)
Criminal Disposition - Sexual Misconduct: 21.92% (n=64)
Sexual Misconduct Involving a Minor: 6.51% (n=19)
Sexual Misconduct: 3.77% (n=11)
Criminal Disposition (General): 3.08% (n=9)
Other (e.g. Intimate Relationship Involving a Minor): 0.68% (n=2)
Total Number of Cases: 292*
(While the Morning Call article citing Dan Hill’s statement of 285 was released on July 1st, I believe that his quotes came from a little over a week ago. For example, I know that two people from USA Swimming were given lifetime bans on 6/28/2019 and 7/1/2019, respectively. I will triple-check my numbers later this evening after a power-nap LOL).
I also want to note that the “Sexual Misconduct” and “Sexual Misconduct - Involving a Minor” categories are very broad. For example, Larry Nassar is listed as “Sexual Misconduct - Involving a Minor” with a 02/06/2018 decision date - even though he was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for possession of images of child sexual abuse in July of 2017 + 40 to 175 years in state prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault of minors in January of 2018.
I am curious about this as well and curious about if these two infractions are actually carrying the same sanction from USEF’s point of view.
One difference here is that equestrian differs from some of the other sports in that training centers are frequently not members or have any real affiliation with USEF. By contrast, even a very local gymnastics training club is likely a member of USA Gymnastics. Same with just about any ice rink - it will be affiliated to USFSA. I believe this model is more common among the Olympic sports than the equestrian model, where trainers can just declare themselves instructors with an ad in the yellow pages and go to it, and USEF doesn’t even have a list of places people can go to take riding lessons.
Another difference is that equestrian is one of the few affiliated sports where you might come to it as a beginner as an adult, and where a lot of non-elite coaches don’t work with kids.
So if you take those two facts together, it’s much easier to have a situation where a gymnastics coach gets a total ban and no, cannot come in to clinic, and have that completely enforceable, compared to equestrian. Whether that’s something we want or need in equestrian, and where the line should be drawn, is a separate question.
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