Sports

Banned gymnastics coach faces fresh sex abuse allegations

Former Canadian gymnast Abby Pearson Spadafora mentioned on Thursday she had suffered years of abuse by the hands of Olympic coach Dave Brubaker and his spouse Elizabeth and known as for an unbiased investigation of the game.

Pearson Spadafora mentioned she was “bodily, verbally, psychologically and sexually abused” for years and that the game failed to guard her and others from the Brubakers.

A lawyer for the Brubakers mentioned he was unaware of the allegations and declined to remark additional when contacted by Reuters.

Pearson Spadafora, 38, mentioned that Dave Brubaker had touched her inappropriately a number of occasions and climbed into mattress and pressed himself towards her when she was 17. She mentioned that incident and plenty of prefer it had resulted in a lifetime of trauma.

“The abuse I skilled as a baby and younger grownup, and the Gymnastics Canada grievance course of, have had a serious affect on my life in a destructive method,” she mentioned in an open letter launched by World Athlete.

“I undergo from PTSD signs which embrace anxiousness, panic assaults and fixed nightmares. .. the damaging results are one thing I’ll dwell with for the remainder of my life!”

Dave Brubaker, who coached the Canadian workforce on the 2016 Rio Olympics, was suspended by Gymnastics Canada in 2017 after he was arrested and charged with a number of counts of sexual crimes.

He was acquitted in 2019 of the costs levelled by a former pupil regarding alleged incidents between 2000 and 2007, when the complainant was between the ages of 12 and 20.

The nationwide governing physique then handed him a lifetime ban following an inside investigation.

Elizabeth Brubaker was additionally suspended in 2019 whereas she was an elite coach on the Bluewater Gymnastics Membership in Sarnia, Ontario. Her suspension was prolonged till 2024.

Earlier this month, a lawsuit was filed by a bunch of former gymnasts alleged that Gymnastics Canada and 6 affiliated provincial organizations turned a blind eye to an abusive tradition. [ ]

Athletes have been subjected to threats and humiliation, and inappropriate touching from coaches whereas being pressured to coach whereas injured, the lawsuit claimed.

In March, a bunch of greater than 70 present and former Canadian gymnasts known as for an unbiased investigation into what they described as a “poisonous tradition and abusive practices” inside their sport.

Gymnastics Canada has mentioned it takes these claims “significantly.” The game’s governing physique didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Pearson Spadafora’s allegations.

“At present, I refuse to be silenced,” mentioned Pearson Spadafora whereas calling for an unbiased, third-party investigation.

“I stand with each survivor and I would like them to know, I consider you!

“It is time for the Authorities of Canada to behave.

“Over 480 athletes have come ahead, however nonetheless the federal government has completed nothing,” she added.

“Too many survivors proceed to undergo due to their lack of motion.”

(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Enhancing by Peter Rutherford ) 

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