Don is Done: Don Peters Banned from Gymnastics by USA Gymnastics, Case Closed
Don Peters, following the lead of Doug Boger, is now in the USA Gymnastics’ list of coaches who are banned from the sport.
Earlier this month, the USA Gymnastics (USAG) introduced policy changes aimed at keeping s*x offenders out and away from gymnastics, and the move was called the first of many to come by USAG Chairman, Peter Vidmar.
Boger was not the only offender exposed by the Orange County Register’s extensive survey on sexual abuse in the gymnastics arena.
Don Peters, at 62, has been known as an excellent coach in the gymnastics community. In 1984 he coached the U.S. Olympic women’s team which had gone down in history as a record-breaker, owing to its stellar performance.
Peters coached at SCATS, a gym located at Huntington Beach, California. Over the years, his students have been known to become Olympic and national champions.
Victims of sexual abuse belonging to the gymnastics athletic community of the 1980s came forward for the first time with the support of the Register.
They complained about the USAG’s inability to protect the gymnasts, and hoped to instigate a movement that will eradicate the plague of abuse from sports altogether.
Among the several women who reported abuse, there were at least three females who mentioned Peters’ name.
Former SCATS member and U.S. national team member, Doe Yamashiro, was one of Peters’ victims. She reported to the Register about being fondled in 1986, at the age of 16, and being sexually assaulted a year later.
Another SCATS member, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Register she had been sexually abused by Peters at the age of 18. She further revealed that Peters was aware of her traumatic past, whereby she had been sexually abused by her own father.
Former SCATS Assistant Director, Linda McNamara, confirmed the allegations by narrating Peters’ confessions of three assaults, including the two afore-mentioned former SCATS gymnasts, and the third, a teenage gymnast.
Peters used to look trouble, according to McNamara, and one night Peter came out with the horrendous confession at a bar.
He had already resigned from the USAG, earlier this year, when the case started. His attorney Kevin O’Connell, used this fact as grounds for terming investigations as an invasion of privacy, since Peters was no longer a part of USAG and could not be disciplined
under the body’s bylaws.
On November 10, O’Connell sent a letter to Scott Himsel, USAG legal council, making the same claim, all the while maintaining to the public that Peters was innocent and the investigations were a private matter. Peters himself gave no comment.
The USAG Ethics and Grievance Committee issued a definitive statement on Wednesday, November 16, in Indianapolis.
The statement revealed USAG’s decision to stamp Peters as “permanently ineligible” for membership in the USAG. His long-standing repute was not the only thing Peter lost, as he was also removed from the sport’s Hall of Fame.
The USAG ruled “Peters’ membership in the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame will be revoked, along with any rights and privileges connected (to membership of USAG or the Hall)”.
This decision made by the hearing panel is final and marks the end of the disciplinary process defined by the USAG bylaws.
Peters has also resigned from his position as coach at SCATS. The movement to eradicate sexual and physical abuse is on its way.
Peters’ case is a standing example and should be viewed as a deterrent. Times have changed, and it will not take as long for justice to come knocking at the criminal’s door, as it did in Boger and Peters’ cases.
Tags: