That’s the issue I see with this whole case.
MBs ban seemed to be triggered by a criminal proceeding. Which makes sense, and is consistent with how SS has handled other coaches who have serious criminal charges pending against them.
Complaints regarding LKs conduct are challenging… because she specifically was harassing her own coach, and harassing other adult peers. SS is in place to protect minors, and to address reports of abusive conduct when there is an imbalance of power, and an adult is being abused by their coach or employer. So concerns about LKs conduct don’t actually fit into that framework. But… her conduct might be something that code of conduct policies that USEF has for all members could actually address… just not so much a SafeSport issue.
But then… there is the issue of the actual report filed with SafeSport in August of 2019 regarding MHGs children. Multiple details about this became public during the Barisone trial. The DCPP (NJs version of child protective services) caseworker testified she visited the farm on 08/07/19 to do a child welfare check, and interview people, because SafeSport had contacted the local DCPP office after receiving a report. There is nothing inappropriate about that… SafeSport is a mandatory reporter, and should act to ensure immediate welfare of any children they receive reports about. Of course, DCPP should follow their procedures and immediately investigate welfare concerns. So that’s what they both did. And that’s a good thing.
When the DCPP caseworker got to the farm, the very first person they questioned was the custodial parent of the children. Then, they questioned another adult present on the property. Then… the shooting happened. The DCPP caseworker didn’t get the chance to interview anyone else (specifically MB) that day.
Sooooo… after listening to all the information that came out at trial, a lot of people were left with a clear impression that the initiating SafeSport report was made by LK - she’s admitted as much in multiple social media posts. And that report wasn’t just about any issues she had with her own coach (MB)… it actually was also about MHGs children. And whatever was reported to SafeSport kicked off a child welfare investigation. MHG has very clearly stated that her children had a very good relationship with MB, and any statements otherwise were false. Sooooo… the question is, was an intentionally false report concerning MHG’s kid’s welfare filed with SafeSport? And was that report filed as part of a bigger campaign of harassment? That bigger campaign of harassment was detailed in sworn testimony in court during the trial.
This is the crux of the issue. SafeSport code prohibits people from knowingly filing false reports. The same goes for people who do this with other crimes, and file false reports with the police. It’s a crime to file a false police report. It’s a very very rare thing… but sometimes… it happens. So the key question people are wondering about in the wake of this case is… what is the mechanism for SafeSport investigating a potential false reporting issue? Is there a mechanism?
That seems like a fair question.
And again… for the record… the very specific issues involved in this particular situation should not be conflated with situations when someone filed a sincere report about sincere abuse concerns, but there simply isn’t evidence to support initiating a full investigation. That’s a different thing entirely than an instance when someone intentionally and knowingly files a false report, as part of a broader effort to harass someone else.
