Athlete accused of abuse had harassed other Paralympians, lawsuit claims

NEW YORK – At the last Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Parker Egbert reached the height of his athletic career, competing for the United States in two swimming events.

But the 21-year-old has since walked away from the sport. He said in a federal lawsuit in 2022 that he was repeatedly physically and sexually abused by his Paralympic teammate, including at the Tokyo Games.

With another Paralympics now under way in Paris, Egbert is asserting that the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) knowingly put him in danger by assigning him to room with the teammate, whose conduct at least six other athletes had previously complained about to the USOPC, according to a new court filing from Egbert’s lawyers.

Among the complaints, according to the filing, was a report of sexual misconduct made by another Paralympic swimmer a year before the Tokyo Games.

“Parker is thrilled to see his teammates fulfil their dreams, but he also feels a devastating loss because he will never return to competitive swimming after the horrific abuse he endured,” Egbert’s mother, Laura, said in a statement to The New York Times.

“We were shocked to find out during discovery in this lawsuit the number, and severity, of complaints that other athletes made,” she said. Egbert is now seeking punitive damages against the USOPC, which manages US Paralympics Swimming.

A spokesperson for the organisation said it takes athlete safety and all reports of abuse seriously but declined to comment on Egbert’s claims because the lawsuit is ongoing.

Two years after sports safety authorities received Egbert’s report of abuse, that case also remains unresolved. The delay has renewed concerns about the effectiveness of that complaint system, created in 2017 in response to the revelation that the former physician for the American gymnastics team, Larry Nassar, had sexually abused hundreds of gymnasts.

The US Centre for SafeSport, the non-profit organisation directed by Congress to handle accusations of misconduct in Olympic and Paralympic sports, began investigating Egbert’s allegations in August 2022 but has not yet issued a final decision. If the organisation finds wrongdoing, it can issue penalties ranging from a written warning to permanent ineligibility.

SafeSport has been criticised by athletes, elected officials and sport governing bodies who have said that its investigations take too long and that there is not enough transparency about the process, which led to the organisation making changes to how it handles cases.

Egbert, who has autism and an intellectual disability, said in his lawsuit that two-gold former Paralympic champion and world record holder Robert Griswold violently raped him, in the showers, during the Tokyo Games in 2021 and later at the US Olympic and Paralympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs. In August 2022, Egbert left the training centre after telling his parents that Griswold had sexually abused him.

Griswold, who has cerebral palsy, has been temporarily suspended while he is being investigated by SafeSport, meaning that he is ineligible to compete in Paris. His lawyer, John Chanin, said in a statement that Griswold, who is also a defendant in Egbert’s lawsuit, “vehemently denies” physically or sexually abusing him and called the accusations “unfounded”.

Griswold, 27, had been the subject of misconduct accusations before Egbert lodged his complaints. In September 2020, SafeSport’s disciplinary database indicated Griswold was under temporary restrictions because of an accusation against him.

Egbert’s lawyers provided more details about that complaint in their recent court filings: A blind female swimmer who was underage at the time reported to USOPC officials that she was in a lift with Griswold at the training centre when he touched her behind and her neck in a “very sexual” way without her consent. She said Griswold had later sent her a text message saying that he wanted to have sex.

Egbert’s lawyers said SafeSport did not interview the female swimmer in response to her accusations. It barred Griswold from the Colorado Springs training centre for six months, but only cited his giving alcohol to the female swimmer as the reason for his punishment, according to the court filing. Griswold was cleared to participate in the Tokyo Games.

Griswold began grooming Egbert, who has the mental capacity of a five- to eight-year-old, at the US Paralympic trials in June 2021, according to the lawsuit. In Tokyo, the USOPC allowed him to act as Egbert’s personal care assistant, an accommodation for athletes who require help with daily activities or their athletic preparation, said the court filings.

After Egbert filed his lawsuit, a USOPC aquatics coach reported to the organisation’s officials that earlier she had observed Egbert leaving the locker room at the training centre in tears after entering the showers with Griswold, according to the filings.

The USOPC said that when it learnt of Egbert’s accusations of sexual abuse against Griswold from his mother in August 2022, it immediately contacted local police and SafeSport and removed Griswold from the training centre and suspended him from the national team. NYTIMES