{"id":11724,"date":"2021-02-27T08:08:30","date_gmt":"2021-02-27T16:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=11724"},"modified":"2021-03-01T04:53:57","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T12:53:57","slug":"human-trafficking-charges-and-coachs-death-reopen-gymnastics-deep-wounds-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=11724","title":{"rendered":"“Human Trafficking Charges and Coach\u2019s Death Reopen Gymnastics\u2019 Deep Wounds”, The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

By <\/span>Allyson Waller<\/a><\/span> and Juliet Macur<\/a>, front page cover story, February 26, 2021, updated Feb. 27, 2021<\/span><\/p>\n

John Geddert died by suicide shortly after he was charged with human trafficking and criminal sexual conduct, Michigan prosecutors said.<\/em><\/p>\n

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John Geddert at the American Cup gymnastics meet at Madison Square Garden in New York in 2012.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Kathy Willens\/Associated Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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The sexual abuse crisis that has shaken American gymnastics deepened on Thursday when a coach of the 2012 women\u2019s Olympic team was charged with human trafficking and sexually assaulting a teenage girl, before killing himself a short time later.<\/p>\n

The charges against the coach and gym owner, John Geddert<\/a>, once again highlighted the dark side of the marquee Olympic sport that was revealed in the investigation and conviction of Lawrence G. Nassar, the former United States national team doctor, who abused hundreds of girls and women.<\/p>\n

The Geddert case grew out of the Nassar<\/a> investigation and Mr. Geddert was suspended by U.S.A. Gymnastics in 2018 after being accused of abuse. Soon after, he announced his retirement from the Twistars gymnastics club in Dimondale, Mich., the gym he owned.<\/p>\n

The accusations against Mr. Geddert, 63, revealed a previously unreported level of abuse at the hands of a coach who helped the 2012 team to a gold medal and had worked closely with Mr. Nassar. It is also now clear that Mr. Nassar\u2019s crimes were far from an aberration in the sport known for its grace, beauty and athletes who perform daring physical feats.<\/p>\n

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The charges were filed by the Michigan attorney general, Dana Nessel, who said the victims suffered from self harm and eating disorders and endured \u201cextreme\u201d emotional and physical abuse, including being forced to train while injured.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of these victims still carry these scars from his behavior to this day,\u201d Ms. Nessel said.<\/p>\n

Ms. Nessel had planned a new legal strategy in charging Mr. Geddert with human trafficking. The term refers not only to sexual exploitation but to coerced labor of any kind, and Ms. Nessel charged that Geddert had \u201csubjected his athletes to forced labor or services under extreme conditions that contributed to them suffering injuries and harm.\u201d The charge was added in an effort to stop coaches and other people in power in gymnastics from abusing young athletes who might be too intimidated or frightened to speak out.<\/p>\n

John Manly, a lawyer for victims of Mr. Geddert and Mr. Nassar, said the human trafficking charges could deter other coaches from abusing, or continuing to abuse, their athletes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an important step in child protection,\u201d Mr. Manly said in a phone interview. \u201cIt tells the other John Gedderts that if you do this, you will be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ouleye Ndoye, who serves on the board of directors of Wellspring Living, a shelter based in Atlanta for people who have been trafficked, said she thought the alleged crimes fit the \u201cforce, fraud and coercion\u201d elements that define trafficking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt checks all the boxes,\u201d she said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have to be kidnapped. The coercion is inherent in the way that he was exploiting their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s applying the definition appropriately and I think more states should follow suit,\u201d she added. \u201cWe should stop using chains and bars and cages as the sole definition of what human trafficking looks like. The fact is, it\u2019s happening right under our noses.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lawyer for Mr. Geddert did not answer a message seeking comment.<\/p>\n

Mr. Geddert did not report for a scheduled afternoon arraignment. His body was found Thursday afternoon at a rest area along an interstate highway in Clinton County, Mich., the State Police said in a statement on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The suicide upset many of Mr. Geddert\u2019s victims, said Mr. Manly, who spoke to some of them by phone after they had heard the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were gratified that the A.G. did what she did, but were horrified that he was able to end it like this because they really wanted their day in court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said he told the women to focus on one important takeaway: \u201cI said they should all put their heads on their pillows tonight and sleep well, knowing that John Geddert can never hurt another girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Geddert, who coached the 2012 Olympian Jordyn Wieber to an all-around title at the 2011 world championships, was the latest high-profile figure in gymnastics to be accused of assaulting his athletes or enabling abuse in the sport struggling to right itself.<\/p>\n

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In January 2018, more than 150 girls and women abused by Mr. Nassar gave formal declarations known as victim impact statements against him in a Michigan court, telling their stories of physical and mental abuse in the sport. Some spoke of Mr. Geddert\u2019s harsh coaching practices.<\/p>\n

Makayla Thrush, one of his former gymnasts, said that Mr. Geddert ended her career when he threw her on top of the low bar of the uneven bars and ruptured lymph nodes in her neck, gave her a black eye and tore muscles in her stomach. But beyond the physical abuse at Mr. Geddert\u2019s gym, Ms. Thrush and other gymnasts said, were intimidation and persistent mental abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou told me to kill myself not just once but many other times, and unfortunately, I let you get the best of me,\u201d Ms. Thrush said.<\/p>\n

The testimony from the gymnasts<\/a> turned a spotlight onto a longtime culture of tyrannical coaching that had scared abused gymnasts into silence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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