USA Gymnastics Paid McKayla Maroney $1.25 Million to Stay Silent About Her Alleged Sexual Abuse
By Christina Cauterucci
McKayla Maroney at the 44th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp on October 2, 2013. John Thys/AFP/Getty Images
Retired gymnast McKayla Maroney filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking damages for the sexual abuse she says she suffered for years at the hands of Larry Nassar, a doctor who recently pled guilty to assaulting several young gymnasts under his care. According to the suit, the Wall Street Journal reports, USA Gymnastics paid Maroney $1.25 million in a confidential settlement last fall in exchange for her silence.
Maroney, a 22-year-old gold medalist from the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, broke that agreement when she wrote about her alleged abuse on Twitter in October. But Maroney and her lawyer, John Manly, say confidentiality agreements are illegal in California in cases of child sexual abuse. “We're basically saying [USA Gymnastics] and its lawyers violated the law by asking McKayla to agree to it and that she should be free to talk about her abuse to whomever she wants, whenever she wants,” Manly told ESPN.
Maroney’s lawyer at the time of the settlement was famed sexual-abuse and discrimination attorney Gloria Allred, who was recently criticized for making misleading statements about a yearbook note written by then-U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, leaving room for the right-wing press to cast doubt on her client’s entire story.
The settlement came at a time when USA Gymnastics, the governing body for the sport and the gateway to the Olympics for its most promising athletes, came under harsh scrutiny for its failure to act on sex-abuse claims made against more than 50 of its coaches. Four ended up incarcerated for their crimes, but not until they’d abused at least 14 gymnasts in the years after USA Gymnastics received complaints about their behavior.
Nassar was a serial victimizer; he's been accused of sexual abuse by more than 140 women and girls in civil lawsuits. The revelation that a large national sports organization spent such a large sum to silence an alleged victim of a child abuser it enabled for decades—the first complaints to the organization came in 1997—will be particularly damaging as the association seeks to rebuild its reputation and regain the trust of the athletes and parents it serves.
Wednesday’s lawsuit names Nassar, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and USA Gymnastics as defendants, as well as Michigan State University, which employed Nassar and protected him for years after he was first investigated by law enforcement. In addition to damages, the suit seeks to nullify the nondisclosure and non-disparagement clauses in Maroney’s settlement, on the grounds that they are unlawful in cases of child sex abuse.
Caution: The following is disturbingly descriptive
The suit includes disturbing details of the abuse Maroney says she endured for almost five years, from the time she was 13 to her retirement from the sport in 2013. Her account aligns with those of several other alleged Nassar victims: In hotel rooms and private spaces at the Karolyi Ranch, where former Olympic team coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi trained athletes, Nassar allegedly penetrated her with ungloved fingers and took nude photos of her, all under the guise of medical treatment. The lawsuit accuses Nassar of violating Maroney dozens of times, all over the world, when he would travel with the team for gymnastics competitions.
“Nassar, on at least one occasion, disrobed Plaintiff, mounted the Plaintiff while performing a medical treatment, placed his fingers into her anus and vagina, and had an erection,” the suit states. Maroney’s mother described the same incident, which occurred the before a world championship meet in Tokyo, in a victim-impact statement submitted to a federal judge presiding over Nassar’s sentencing on a child pornography conviction. “She was only 15 years old. She said to me, ‘Mom I thought I was going to die,’ ” Erin Maroney wrote. “This experience has shattered McKayla. She has transformed from a bubbly, positive, loving, world class athlete into a young adult who was deeply depressed, at times suicidal.”
According to the lawsuit, Nassar “would continuously, obsessively and compulsively photograph” Maroney in public, which, along with his guilty plea on child pornography charges, led the gymnast to believe he also took photos while abusing her. Maroney “continues to worry, distress, experience concern, anxiety, and depression over whether Nassar’s photographs of her are still circulating through the internet, and whether they are possessed by other pedophiles and sexual deviants, and whether she will ever know how widely these photographs have been shared or whether they will eventually surface later in her lifetime,” the suit states.
Several other gymnasts have come forward with public allegations against Nassar; the most famous are Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman, two stars of the 2012 and 2016 Olympic teams. Nassar will be sentenced for seven counts of sexual assault in January. The judge has given his accusers four days during the sentencing to speak in court about their alleged abuse.
Texas man indicted, charged with continued sexual abuse of a child over course of 8 years
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) -
A Lubbock man has been indicted by a Lubbock County grand jury on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child and continued sexual abuse of a child.
A victim told police that 40-year-old Torivio Jimenez sexually assaulted her approximately 300 times over the course of 8 years, according to court documents.
The victim said the assault started happening when she was 12 and Jimenez is the father of her two children. She said her first pregnancy happened when she was 15.
She told police the last time the assault happened was in 2016. She said he would "tie her up and get what he wanted."
A second victim also told police she was being abused by Jimenez.
8 Former Child Actors Accuse Mentor
Gary Goddard Of Sexual Abuse
The Stars are Falling
Gary Goddard, 65, has led an eclectic and lucrative career directing, producing and writing in Hollywood
By Patch California, Patch Staff
HOLLYWOOD, CA -- Eight former child actors have said they were sexually abused by producer Gary Goddard in the 1970s, when he oversaw a troupe of young thespians in Santa Barbara, it was reported Wednesday. A successful former theater prodigy, Goddard directed and mentored child actors in his hometown, Santa Barbara, while in his 20s, vowing to bring the most talented with him to Hollywood. He attracted a constant orbit of devoted boys. But the seemingly idyllic setting of privilege and promise had a dark edge for several members of the theater group. Four decades later, many of them say they have been haunted by their encounters with Goddard, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Since actor Anthony Edwards wrote in an online essay last month that Goddard sexually abused him as a pubescent actor in Santa Barbara, seven others who were in the same theater group told the Los Angeles Times that their former mentor molested or attempted to molest them as well when they were boys. They say Goddard's advances included straying hands, fondling in a darkened Disneyland ride, and repeated incidents of sexual abuse during their troupe's overnight stays while on tour around the state.
In addition, Edwards and another former theater student said in interviews that a classmate who has since died of complications from AIDS, Scott Drnavich, told them that he was sexually assaulted by Goddard as a boy.
Goddard, 65, has led an eclectic and lucrative career directing, producing and writing in Hollywood and on Broadway, and as a designer of theme parks and other attractions. He declined to be interviewed. His publicist, Sam Singer, disputed the allegations, which he said were "full of innuendo and hearsay," The Times reported.
Goddard took a leave from his North Hollywood-based entertainment design company, The Goddard Group, after Edwards' account of child molestation.
If it were possible to prove a negative, Mr. Goddard would debate these 40-year-old allegations, Goddard's publicist, Sam Singer, told The Times, "categorically" denying the allegations.
Goddard's accusers have gone on to achieve success in Hollywood and other industries, but they say they have grappled with the psychological aftershocks of his abuse, The Times reported. Their personal sagas have involved therapy, tearful revelations to others and dramatic confrontations with the man they once revered.
"This is a man who*s attracted to little boys, and attracted in the sickest way," said Edwards, an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actor known for roles in "Top Gun" and ER. This is not love, this is not friendship what he was doing. It is a horror because it is manipulating young hearts and minds.
Arrest made after alleged decade-long child sex abuse
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
A 37-year-old Montgomery man is facing charges after documents say he sexually abused a child for nearly 10 years.
Javier Miquel Gonzalez is charged with sexual abuse of a child under 12 and sodomy first degree.
Court documents indicate from January of 2008 until December of 2017, Gonzalez sexually abused the victim while the child was in his care and the mother was working.
Documents do not indicate the relationship of Gonzalez and the victim. No additional details of his arrest have been made available to the public.
Gonzalez was taken to the Montgomery County Detention Facility under $90,000 bond.
Michael Jackson Child Sex Abuse Lawsuit Dismissed
Sets a dangerous precedent - lawyer
By ANDREW DALTON Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A judge on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit brought by a choreographer who alleged Michael Jackson molested him as a child, resolving one of the last major claims against the late singer’s holdings.
Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff’s summary judgment ruling against the now-35-year-old Wade Robson found that the two Jackson-owned corporations, which were the remaining defendants in the case, were not liable for Robson’s exposure to Jackson. He did not rule on the credibility of Robson’s allegations themselves.
Robson’s attorney, Vince Finaldi, said he strongly disagrees and plans to appeal.
Robson, a native of Australia who has worked with Britney Spears and NSYNC, met Jackson when he was 5 years old.
He testified in Jackson’s defense at the singer’s 2005 criminal trial, saying he had spent the night at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch more than 20 times and usually slept in Jackson’s room, but Jackson never molested him. Jackson was acquitted in that trial.
Then in 2013 about four years after the singer’s death, Robson sued the Jackson estate for what his attorneys described as molestation that spanned a seven-year period.
A court ruled in 2015 that Robson had filed his lawsuit too late to get any of Jackson’s estate. That left two remaining defendants, both corporate entities owned by Jackson in his lifetime: MJJ Productions, Inc., and MJJ Ventures, Inc.
The judge ruled Tuesday that those two corporate defendants could not be held responsible for Robson’s exposure to Jackson, the way a school or the Boy Scouts can be found liable for bringing together an abusive adult and a child victim.
Finaldi said the reasoning sets a dangerous precedent.
“What the judge is saying is that you if own a corporation or a company, you can hire people, use these people to facilitate your sexual abuse, use them to facilitate victims,” Finaldi told The Associated Press by phone. “So long as you’re the sole owner of that corporation, the corporation can’t be held liable.”
Jackson estate attorney Howard Weitzman said in a statement that he “believes the court made the correct decision in dismissing Wade Robson’s claim against it. “In my opinion Mr. Robson’s allegations, made 20 plus years after they supposedly occurred and years after Mr. Robson testified twice under oath — including in front of a jury — that Michael Jackson had never done anything wrong to him was always about the money rather than a search for the truth.”
Finaldi replied that the Jackson camp’s interest in the truth was “hollow.” “If someone’s trying to search for the truth, why not let the lawsuit proceed?” Finaldi said. “Why not exonerate him and let a jury decide.”
During the criminal trial, Robson bristled at testimony by other witnesses that they had seen Jackson molest him. “I’m telling you nothing happened,” Robson testified at the time when a prosecutor challenged him.
Which, of course, is not unusual for a child sex abuse victim to be in denial for years, indeed, decades.
Another Robson attorney said when his lawsuit was filed that stress and sexual trauma led Robson to finally accept that he had been molested by Jackson.
Lawyer caught with his pants down in
prison sex video racket
An attorney was caught with his pants down attempting to film sex scenes with an inmate for a ‘Girls in Jail’ video in Pinellas County, Florida.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office received a tip from an inmate in late November that Andrew Spark was using his status as a lawyer to meet with female inmates at the Pinellas County Jail in Clearwater. He had ‘taped video sex with the inmates for a fee,’ Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.
An inmate named Shauna Boselli, who has been sentenced for child pornography along with her husband, told authorities that she met Spark about two years ago at a porn convention in Tampa.
There are porn conventions? Good grief!
When she ended up in jail, Spark visited her. She said she was surprised to see him, and he told her he would put money into her commissary account in exchange oral sex.
“Spark told Boselli when he met with her in November, a few weeks ago, that he was preparing porn videos of female inmates performing oral sex on him from within the jails and, in exchange, he puts money in the inmate’s account,” Gualtieri said.
He asked Boselli to take part in the sex videos and told her he had just visited another inmate, named Rose, who had “performed videotaped sex with him for money.”
Detectives discovered Rose, or Antoinette Napolitano, and Spark had sex at least six times between June and December.
Spark, who is a former assistant attorney general, would start filming Napolitano in her uniform, in an interview-like scenario where he would ask about her sexual fantasies. He would then film her performing sex acts, detectives found.
When Spark visited Napolitano on Sunday, authorities burst into the room to find him “fully exposed.”
He has been charged with soliciting for prostitution, exposure of sexual organs and introduction of contraband into a detention facility. He may face further charges as the investigation continues.
“Information indicates Sparks has done this with female inmates at the Pinellas County Jail before, and has also done the same at other jails throughout the Tampa Bay area.” Gualtieri said.
Man receives 120-year sentence in Illinois
child sex abuse case
Jim Newton, News-Sun
A Waukegan man received the maximum possible sentence for charges he faced related to the repeated sexual assault of a child.
Jeffrey Morrow, 41, was sentenced to 120 years in prison Tuesday by Lake County Circuit Judge Patricia Fix.
Morrow was charged with 20 counts of predatory criminal sexual assault relating to repeated instances of sexual assault involving a boy who was 11 and 12 years old when the assaults took place, according to testimony during his trial.
He was convicted of the charges by a jury on Aug. 24 after being initially charged in November of 2015.
Each count is a Class X felony, and he was only sentenced on 12 of the counts, to be served at 10 years each, because 120 years is the maximum prison sentence he was eligible to receive, officials said.
Morrow is not eligible for good-time credit due restrictions involved with Class X charges, and will serve the entire sentence unless it is changed on appeal.
Or, he dies from old age.
Assistant State's Attorney Jason Grindel said Morrow will be given credit for the more than 700 days he has spent in Lake County jail since his arrest.
That should make him feel better - he only has 118 years to go.
According to Waukegan police at the time of the arrest, the investigation into the case began after a mother walked into the Waukegan Police Station to report that her child was having inappropriate online conversations with Morrow.
Evidence collected during a search warrant of Morrow's residence resulted in the charges, police said.
Defense attorneys Jeff Facklam and John Radosevich said the sentence would be appealed on grounds involving alleged insufficient evidence relating to some of the counts against Morrow. The public defenders had made a motion with regard to that issue before Fix, but it was denied.
Authorities said Morrow also still faces sex-related charges in Wisconsin as well.
Grindel said Morrow had a previous, unrelated conviction on sex charges. Waukegan police said he was convicted of a sex crime that took place in Zion in 1998.
Morrow has been held in Lake County jail on $1 million bail since his arrest. His bail was revoked following his conviction in August.
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