The United States Olympic AND The Paralympic Committee has fired a coach and a director later Associated Press reported That the coach was accused of sexually abusing a young biathlete, causing him so much anguish that he tried to commit suicide.
“After our exhaustive internal evaluation, we can confirm that Gary Colliander and Eileen Carey are no longer affiliated with Usopc,” said spokesman Jon Mason to the AP. He refused to provide a reason, saying only that the colmander was put Paralympic team administrative license in December – Days after the AP report on alleged misconduct. The two were fired on March 14.
Colliander was accused of sexually abusing Grace Boutot, a biathlete who trained at Maine’s winter sports center for four years since 2006 when he was 15, the AP reported. Colliander left the job after the suicide attempt of October 2010 from Boutot and was then hired by the United States Paralympic Nordic team.
Carey was the vice president of the center of Maine at the time of abuse and had discussed it with Boutot’s mother. After leaving the center in December 2010, Carey was hired as a coach and then promoted to the director of the Paralympic team. She was there when Colliander entered on board.
Mason refused to say whether Carey hired Colliander or how the Paralympic team examines the coaches they hire. The US Safeport Center, created to investigate the accusations of sexual abuse in Olympic sports after the Gymnastics scandal of the United States of Larry Nassar, launched an investigation into Colliander in December.
“Keep in mind that the case of Mr. Colliander remains active with Safeport,” Mason told the AP.
Colliander’s lawyer, Simone Montoya, said that the authorities did not tell Colliander why he was fired and that “firmly denies any irregular or inappropriate behavior, as he alleges.”
Colliander “is committed to complete and transparent cooperation in this matter,” Montoya told AP in an email. “He denies any behavior in violation of the Safeport Code or applicable laws and policies and argues that he has always maintained professional standards throughout his career.”
AP telephone and email messages looking for Carey comments were not returned immediately.
Boutot was among half a dozen Olympics and other biathletas that were presented after the AP reported last year that The Olympic Joanne Reid was sexually abused and harassed for yearsAccording to Safeport’s findings. Biatlon is a winter sport that Combine skiing in the background with target shots.
The AP generally does not identify victims of sexual abuse, except in cases where they identify publicly or share their stories openly.
Boutot, 34, told AP that when Colliander began training her, he paid a lot of attention, including the inappropriate touch. The behavior intensified after turning 18 to “kiss, caress sexual and oral sex,” according to a summary of treatment of his therapist, Jacqueline Pauli-Rritz, shared with the AP.
Boutot said he begged Colliander to stop, but he ignored her. It was severely depressed and began to cut, according to the therapist’s notes. In September 2010, Pauli-Rritz contacted Colliander and told him that Boutot suffered from major depression and that he should stop training it, the treatment summary said.
“He did not do this until after the suicide attempt,” Pauli-Rritz wrote, referring to the overdose of October 7, 2010 of Boutot in antidepressants during a Utah training field.
Colliander resigned the next day. He took a training work in Colorado and was hired in December 2016 by the United States Paralympic team. He was a high -performance associate director for US Paralympics. Uu. Nordic Skiing before being fired.
Boutot tried to continue running, but faced discrimination against center staff and teammates, who blamed her for her departure, according to a letter she wrote to the Junta del Deportes de Maine in January 2011.
Boutot’s mother, Karen Gorman, had repeated discussions and email exchanges with Carey and the CEO of the center, Andy Shepard, about the abuse her daughter suffered, Gorman told the AP.
In an email of October 22, 2010, Gorman told them: “The problem of any of any coach -atleta … must be examined” by the Maine Sports Center.
Carey replied that he was “working very hard” for that to happen. “I am very supported by having positive things that leave this situation for all those involved,” he said in an email on October 25, 2010.
But, Boutot said to the AP, no investigation was never conducted.
In a 2011 complaint, he presented to the Maine Human Rights Commission, Boutot accused the Maine Sports Center of not avoiding the inappropriate sexual behavior of Colliander and reprisals against her when she reported it, denying her training and completion of financing of equipment, travel, athlete housing and other expenses related to the competence of American Biatlon.
The center was formed with $ 75,000 in September 2011 and Boutot left the races.
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Editor’s note: This story includes the discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, national suicide and crisis crisis in the US 988lifeline.org
