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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Whatever level of sports your child plays – from little league to Olympics – there’s a chance they could have a coach, teammate or trainer who may verbally or physical abuse them.
Over the past two weeks, the KSHB 41 I-Team shared Olympic and other young athletes’ painful stories of abuse at the hands of their coaches and trainers. The I-Team also reported on the shortcomings of the system meant to protect athletes from sexual abuse.
Throughout the I-Team’s investigation, athletes, attorneys and sports safety advocates said parents must learn the warning signs of abuse and how they can protect their children from harm.
“We’re not talking one or two kids, were not talking one or two coaches,” attorney Jonathan Little told the I-Team.
The Indianapolis-based attorney has represented hundreds of college and Olympic athletes who’ve survived sexual abuse by their coaches.
“This stuff is pervasive. It’s hundreds of coaches – probably over a thousand, it’s probably well over a thousand,” he said.
Attorney John Manly echoes those concerns.
“It’s happening every day in places all over the country,” said Manly, who also represents collegiate and Olympic athletes who’ve survived sexual assault by their coaches and trainers, including gold medal gymnast Simone Biles. “It’s not just USA gymnastics. It’s every sport.”
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He added: “If you understand the pathology of predators, you’ll understand they go where children are.”
To protect young athletes from predators in sports, Manly, Little and other experts the I-Team interviewed said:
Attorney Jonathan Little also said parents who suspect a coach or other predator in sports has abused their child or is grooming their child should immediately contact law enforcement.
“I don’t know how to say this clear enough to all the parents out there,” he told the I-Team. “Call the police…call the FBI.”
While attorneys, athletes and national sports officials told the I-Team they believe the Center for SafeSport isn’t doing enough to rid predators from the Olympic Movement, they praised the center’s education programs on abuse prevention and awareness.
A spokesman for the center told the I-Team:
Additional educational resources available from the center include:
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