SafeSport Failed Children: Shocked, Shocked!
The AP reports new lawsuits alleging USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Center for SafeSport ignored 'inappropriate and abusive behaviors' by coach Sean Gardner since December 2017. Despite multiple complaints, Gardner was allowed to continue coaching, moving to Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute where more alleged abuse occurred. One might wonder if their mission statement includes a clause about
waiting until the situation is a headline before acting definitively. This isn't an isolated incident; it's a pattern. Larry Nassar's systemic abuse, brought to light in 2015, illuminated a culture of cover-ups within USA Gymnastics. The question isn't just why Gardner continued, but why these oversight bodies consistently demonstrate a stunning inability—or unwillingness—to act on early warnings.
It appears their playbook involves allowing patterns of abuse to escalate into federal lawsuits before any meaningful accountability surfaces (if it ever does), effectively putting children in harm's way repeatedly.