CNN
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Paralympic gold medalist swimmer Robert Griswold “maliciously focused,” groomed and sexually abused a youthful, intellectually disabled teammate, a civil lawsuit filed on Friday in Colorado alleges.
He allegedly abused now-19-year-old Parker Egbert, who has suffered from developmental delay and mental incapacity his total life making him “considerably extra weak to abuse”, through the Tokyo Paralympic Video games and on the US Olympic & Paralympic Coaching Heart (OPTC) positioned in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“This case is a horrific tragedy, the place a younger man who defied all odds to turn into a world-class Paralympic swimmer had his life totally shattered by rape and abuse when he was paired with a group member who was a violent sexual predator,” the lawsuit says.
Instantly due to Griswold’s “vicious acts” and “the repeated failures of USOPC (the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee) and SafeSport to uphold their duties,” the lawsuit says that Egbert has “suffered extreme bodily accidents, ache and struggling, and excessive psychological and emotional misery, most of which is more likely to endure for the remainder of his life.”
Griswold had not responded to CNN’s request for remark on the time of publication.
When contacted by CNN, Egbert’s attorneys mentioned they might communicate with their shopper earlier than making an announcement.
The lawsuit additionally alleges that the USOPC and SafeSport – an impartial non-profit group dedicated to ending abuse and harassment in opposition to athletes – didn’t “warn, supervise and/or defend Plaintiff,” both deliberately or negligently failing to uphold their respective duties.
“The allegations introduced forth by the grievance filed at the moment are extraordinarily regarding and we take them very critically,” the USOPC mentioned in an announcement to CNN.
“We’ve made the choice to position two workers members on administrative depart and have additionally stopped the work of a number of contractors with U.S. Paralympics Swimming. We’re additionally persevering with our investigation of the allegations to assist us decide the information, and we’re dedicated to taking acceptable motion.”
SafeSport and USA Swimming haven’t responded to CNN’s request for remark on the time of publication.
Griswold was issued with a short lived suspension by the U.S. Heart for SafeSport on August 23 2022 on account of “allegations of misconduct” and positioned on a database that’s designed for abuse prevention and schooling in sports activities.
The Colorado Springs Police Division had not responded to CNN’s request for remark on the time of publication.
Egbert was born with autism, didn’t communicate till he was six, and “at the moment has the psychological capability of a five-year outdated,” the lawsuit says.
Swimming turned a type of “playtime, remedy time,” his mom says within the lawsuit, and he discovered success within the pool, competing in three completely different occasions on the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Video games held in August and September 2021.
In response to the lawsuit, on the Paralympic trials in June 2021, Griswold “made a concerted effort to ‘befriend’ [Egbert], continuously referring to [Egbert] as his ‘little buddy.’”
Through the Video games, Griswold ensured that Egbert was at all times “seated subsequent to him on airplane and bus rides and was given extended unsupervised entry” to him since they shared a room within the Olympic Village, and “the grooming intensified,” the lawsuit states.
“The USOPC noticed Griswold participating on this conduct and allowed it to proceed,” the lawsuit provides.
Griswold, who was born with cerebral palsy, received two gold medals at Tokyo 2020.
One other athlete, who was not recognized within the lawsuit, allegedly witnessed the abuse Egbert suffered from Griswold, in keeping with the lawsuit, and he turned so offended that he punched the wall of the room the place the three athletes had been staying.
In December that 12 months, Egbert received three gold medals on the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Nationwide Championship and was invited to reside and practice on the OPTC in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Egbert and Griswold turned roommates there, permitting the abuse to proceed and intensify, the lawsuit says.
Egbert “refused to take showers which was the place Griswold would rape and sexually abuse” him, the lawsuit says, and he started writing tales as a method of escape together with one which he titled ‘Spookley and the Hurricane.’
The story, in keeping with the lawsuit, was a few group of buddies who had been “courageous” in defeating “a strong hurricane known as Hurricane Robert,” which Egbert known as a “monster.”
After his dad and mom requested Egbert about this story, he revealed Griswold’s abuse to them however once they expressed their considerations, “USOPC declined to answer the problem,” the lawsuit says.
Because of the “acts and omissions” of Griswold, USOPC and SafeSport, the lawsuit says, Egbert has “needed to make the troublesome determination to go away behind his lifelong dream,” of being a Paralympic swimmer.
The lawsuit goes on to allege that “Griswold used his standing within the Olympic and Paralympic Swimming group to hold out a scientific sample of abuse, whereby he would search out and groom weak athletes, particularly minor and disabled Paralympic athletes residing and coaching at the USA Olympic & Paralympic Coaching Heart positioned in Colorado.”
USOPC and SafeSport had information of “credible allegations” of abuse in opposition to Griswold, the lawsuit says, “but conspired to cover-up such allegations” due to his success as a Paralympic swimmer.
