The USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal relates to the sexual abuse of hundreds of gymnastsβprimarily minors βover two decades in the United States, starting in the s. It is considered the largest sexual abuse scandal in sports history. The breadth of the abuses was first revealed by The Indianapolis Star , which reported in September that "predatory coaches were allowed to move from gym to gym, undetected by a lax system of oversight, or dangerously passed on by USA Gymnastics-certified gyms".
Justice Department report. In and , Nassar pleaded guilty to federal charges of child pornography and state charges of first-degree sexual assault; he received sentences of 60 years in prison plus another 80 to years. Some faced criminal charges, though few were convicted.
Center for SafeSport. Since , USA Gymnastics has kept a list of people permanently banned from coaching for sexual abuse and other reasons. The list includes Robert Dean Head, a USAG coach in Kentucky who in pled guilty to raping a year-old, and Don Peters , the national coach for the Olympic team , who was banned in after two former gymnasts accused him of sexual abuse.
In , USAG began requiring background checks for coaches. Yet USAG leaders also routinely dismissed warnings about coaches. For example, USAG received complaints about coach Mark Schiefelbein long before he was convicted in of molesting a year-old girl. Even when USAG leaders believed the accusers, they sometimes allowed coaches to continue coaching for years.
Sharp was charged in with three counts of child molestation and four counts of sexual misconduct with a minor; he died by suicide in prison. One gym owner had warned that McCabe "should be locked in a cage before someone is raped". McCabe was charged with molesting gymnasts, secretly videotaping girls changing clothes, and posting their nude images on the Internet.
