Olympics-eve report accuses USA Gymnastics of failing to protect kids from sexual abuse

One day before the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics, an investigative report accuses USA Gymnastics of failing to protect children from sexual predators by "routinely" brushing aside allegations of sexual abuse perpetrated by coaches against young athletes.

USA Gymnastics is among the most high-profile Olympic-sport federations in the United States. Based in Indianapolis but operating nationwide, its long list of sponsors includes AT&T, Hilton and Hershey's.

Women's gymnastics, in particular, takes a star turn at the Summer Olympics every four years. Several 2016 competitions take place Sunday, and American gymnasts are expected to star.

But back Stateside, an ugly picture has emerged.

The months-long investigation published Thursday by The Indianapolis Star says USA Gymnastics policies allowed coaches accused of sexual abuse to continue working with young athletes for years, thus enabling them to abuse more athletes.

“USAG may not have been the hand that ultimately abused these innocent children,” Shelley Haymaker, an attorney who represents victimes of child abuse, told the paper. “But it was definitely the arm.”

USA Gymnastics officials considered complaints against coaches to be "hearsay" unless signed by an alleged victim or that alleged victim's parent. Those guidelines, in place since the 1990s, "haven't really changed," an attorney for the federation told the Star.

The result is tragic: Four coaches had accusations of misconduct brushed aside, then went on to sexually abuse "at least 14 underage gymnasts after the warnings," according to the report.

Take the case of coach William McCabe. USA Gymnastics "received at least four complaints" about him going back as far as 1998, according to the Star.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"In my opinion this person has no right to work with children and should be locked in a cage before someone is raped," the owner of a Florida gym wrote of McCabe in a letter to USA Gymnastics in 1998.

The gym owner said he'd previously fired McCabe after the coach bragged about sexual encounters with young gymnasts.

In addition to overseeing the U.S. Olympic team, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for the sport in the U.S. This means it also promotes the sport and sanctions smaller competitions. The USA Gymnastics website says it now boasts "more than 90,000 athletes registered in competitive programs, as well as more than 20,000 professional, instructor and club members."

But USA Gymnastics officials never reported allegations against McCabe to police, according to the Star. His USA Gymnastics membership was even renewed in 1999. In 2006, McCabe pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation charges in Georgia and is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence.

"I know there’s always going to be little girls and people who have bad things happen to them, but this did not have to go on," Lisa Ganser, the mother of one of McCabe's gymnast victims, told the Star. "It did not have to happen. Bill McCabe could have been stopped close to 10 years before he got these girls. He should’ve been stopped before he ever got to our town."

The Star's investigation focuses on McCabe and three other coaches as examples of the big-picture problem. But that's the scariest part of the report -- this could be just the beginning.

The Star says sexual misconduct complaints were filed against 54 coaches between 1996 and 2006. It's unknown how many of those complaints were reported to authorities, as well as how many additional complaints have been filed since 2006.

Now go read the full Indianapolis Star report -- it's well worth your time.