Read the USA Today article by Christine Brennan starting paragraph 4 - the timeline indicated on Dec. 3, 2017 the pictures were sent/received and by paragraph 6 “Zimmerman and Fontana, who are married to each other, were made aware of the photos in a meeting with Dispenza at their home that evening, the girl and her parents said.” It was inferred.
Olympic figure skater, coaches being investigated for allegations
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Read the USA Today article by Christine Brennan starting paragraph 4 - the timeline indicated on Dec. 3, 2017 the pictures were sent/received and by paragraph 6 “Zimmerman and Fontana, who are married to each other, were made aware of the photos in a meeting with Dispenza at their home that evening, the girl and her parents said.” It was inferred.
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The title should be the same as the story you are quoting. Sometimes all the words won't fit. I just edited it for you
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This situation, if true, is heartbreaking and yes disgusting.
Someone saying that they want more verification or information is NOT blaming the victim.
Saying such persons are victim blaming is NOT standing up for survivors. (I do not trust the flawed statistics about verified reporting, I work tangentially in this field and the much bandied about one or 2% figure is not correctly calculated. At least as far as I can tell)
If every element in this story is true, it is beyond horrible. But using the word “if” does not make someone who is posting a horrible person.
Someone saying that they want more verification or information is NOT blaming the victim.
Saying such persons are victim blaming is NOT standing up for survivors. (I do not trust the flawed statistics about verified reporting, I work tangentially in this field and the much bandied about one or 2% figure is not correctly calculated. At least as far as I can tell)
If every element in this story is true, it is beyond horrible. But using the word “if” does not make someone who is posting a horrible person.
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"... men have their needs”, so this man and/or his accomplice(s) actually have a sexual need for a 13 year old (and her rink mate), who in their sick minds 'acted' and 'dressed prettily' as if she was asking for it? And who know how many other girls in the places they visit and work at, where 'sniffed at' like fillies by a stallion in full heat? Disgusting.
This thread it polite and reasonable compared to the Reddit and elsewhere.
Now, what action will French fed and ISU take? A temporary suspension pending conclusion of this investigation??
And Vanessa James, will she want to be tainted by this? I cannot imagine her not sensing something was off in her partner's behaviour around teenage girls and adolescents?
I believe the pair have some show obligations coming Christmas holidays. Now the news has reached France some statement or action from French fed is due.
This thread it polite and reasonable compared to the Reddit and elsewhere.
Now, what action will French fed and ISU take? A temporary suspension pending conclusion of this investigation??
And Vanessa James, will she want to be tainted by this? I cannot imagine her not sensing something was off in her partner's behaviour around teenage girls and adolescents?
I believe the pair have some show obligations coming Christmas holidays. Now the news has reached France some statement or action from French fed is due.
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Let’s not bring Vanessa into to this. Any comments about what she did or did not know would be pure speculation. We’re all better than that.
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This makes me sick. J/C were my favorite pair and they did change pairs skating... but Morgan's actions took dump on it all. And even if his actions could be explained as stupidity, his team trying to cover up and threatening the girl... sick sick sick.
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Not, his behaviour goes beyond 'brawny boy' stupidity, it is typical of uninhibited alpha macho male behaviour, the type of behaviour of Weinstein and other men in positions of authority and power over young females who think any woman is there for the taking, the younger the better.
This won't be the last accusation made, like with the Nassar case, other victims will come forward. Even if it is only sending D pics and lewd behaviour towards young girls and teenagers, this is already bad enough in an adult in contact with children in an ice rink. But accusations of 'fondling', 'groping' and worse are very likely to appear. Male pair skater who thinks himself an irresistible hunk ....
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He would need to be arrested first before being tried. To be arrested he would either need to be in the United States, or extradited to the United States. He could in fact be tried in absentia, but that is very rare and would be up to the state’s attorney general or the county DA as to whether this case merits it.
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They are mandated reporters under the SafeSport code separate and apart from their obligations under state law:
https://uscenterforsafesport.org/wp.../2019-SafeSport-Code-04.15.19-Hyperlinked.pdf
For those who are worried about false charges, doing so is a violation of the SafeSport Code and can be penalized. It can also result in state law charges.
In Florida, anyone who knows of or suspects child abuse, including sexual abuse, is a mandatory reporter:
http://origin.flcourts.org/core/fileparse.php/531/urlt/Mandatory_Reporting_of_Abuse_Checklist.pdf
https://www.myflfamilies.com/service-programs/abuse-hotline/publications/mandatedreporters.pdf
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This solitary case probably won't merit such measures, given the facts we know from that article. A legal case and conviction (beyond a Safe Sport hearing, ruling and possible sanctions) is not certain at all. Hard evidence? Server logs? The girl in therapy? So many chances for it to go all wrong and even firing back .... Unless serious sexual abuse of a serial nature comes to light, and the usual cover ups to protect reputation of the adults and their businesses, their 'Olympic Dreams'.
Has USFSA made any comments?
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Thanks. I do wonder what the chances for any proper investigation into these allegations are.
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It will probably come down to the word of a then 13 year old against at least three or four adults in positions of authority, staved by some evidence, either oral recollection or social media records. We'll have to wait for Safe Sport and any possible criminal court case and the final verdict could take months.
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Implied, rather than inferred; you inferred it from what Brennan implied.
Editor hat off, another possibility is that the families sent a legal representative rather than attending the meeting themselves. Remember that the father of the girl the article focuses on is a lawyer - not only would he have a good idea of what to do, he would also have access to resources, a lawyer of his own and perhaps colleagues who would be willing to step in and help if called on. He would also have a good knowledge of the maxim 'A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client' and the rationale behind it: that somebody who is representing themselves (or in this case, their child) is likely too emotionally invested in events to be effective.
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I'm sad that things like that happens, but glad that it was reported. I'm sick of athletes of high profile being protected. I was never the biggest fan of J/C skating (I liked them, but that's that), but I really liked the Zinermann & Fontana team. Not anymore 
Also, the article does not mention if Vanessa was aware?
Also, the article does not mention if Vanessa was aware?- Joined
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USA Today has apparently seen the pics, so there is probably some digital evidence.
There are some strange facts in the article. Why did another coach tell the girls to solicit nudes from the skater in the first place? Is he the one who actually wanted the nude pictures? It sounds like there is some horrible psychological manipulation going on at that rink, and I hope every parent there asks their children if they've been in any uncomfortable situations.
If Christine Brennan and the USA Today editors viewed the naked pics, that sounds like there's evidence of something bad. It's terrible that this is happening again so soon after the John Coughlin scandal. Hopefully this one can be resolved more effectively.
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The article is very careful to not connect Vanessa to any allegations, to the point of referring to her as 'his [Morgan's] partner' rather than using her name at one point, and leaving her out of the discussion almost completely. That suggests to me that at this point they have no evidence or allegations linking Vanessa to the abuse, no evidence that she was aware of it and failed in any duty she may have had as a mandatory report, and no evidence that she was involved in the cover-up, and are being very careful not to imply that she might have been as a result.
That's been discussed more than once in this thread. The boundary-transgressing, dare-like nature of the request, which takes some of the things that girls on the edge of adolescence might think or joke about between themselves when trying on ideas about growing up and gets them to act on them in a way they otherwise wouldn't (which could be judged to cause a guilt/shame reaction coupled with a transgressive thrill that would confuse them into silence, and also make the inevitable next, bigger request seem less bad), coupled with the childish 'bribe' of pizza that makes it seem less important than it is, plus the fact that they actually did it, plus the fact that when the girls clearly didn't stay silent about it/the parents realised what had happened the coach/es immediately switched to threatening them into silence, suggests very strongly that the girls were already being groomed for abuse, if not outright abused already, by that coach. Or possibly by the coach and Cipres working together.
Good lord, I hate knowing the kind of stuff you learn when you get trained as a mandatory reporter.
Another thing it's important to remember when dealing with this kind of situation is that abusers don't only groom the children they abuse; they condition the adults around those children to accept them and their boundary-crossing too, and this gives them a crew of defenders if the children do speak out. I'm seeing way too many of those dynamics reflected in what's been reported so far to be willing to discount the possibility that not only did Morgan Cipres engage in sexual misconduct towards these two girls, but at least one other person at the rink did so too.
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I meant to add this to my post before but here goes:
The press here was calling the 24 year old male, in one of those killing the girlfriends parents type stories, the boyfriend of a 12 year old female. A 24 year old is never the boyfriend of a 12 year old. They are the abuser of that 12 year old.
No matter if this 13 year old begged Morgan for pictures of his penis, offered him large amounts of money or any other excuse or "reason" it is never appropriate to send a photo like this to a 13 year old. I would caution any person against sending any photos of themselves to a 13 year old over DM who they are not related to. When I was a scout leader we were told to never ever DM a youth or text a youth or anything other than public communication.
I have to say this.. when I was 11 I looked like a 18 year old. I had the body of an adult woman and no one thought I was still a child. At 13 I could get served alcohol. I looked like an adult. Emotionally I was still a child. I had the decision making skills of a young teenager. We must protect young people from predator older adults. If we fail to do this then we have let down our children. Believe the child. If nothing happened (which people yammer on about but it is very rare that false accusations are made) then an investigation will figure it out. But until this is known for sure other young women deserved to be protected from Morgan's antics in the 2 years that lapsed. If F/Z knew for 2 years about this and failed to report it then they are, at least in part, responsible if Morgan did other acts such as this.
The press here was calling the 24 year old male, in one of those killing the girlfriends parents type stories, the boyfriend of a 12 year old female. A 24 year old is never the boyfriend of a 12 year old. They are the abuser of that 12 year old.
No matter if this 13 year old begged Morgan for pictures of his penis, offered him large amounts of money or any other excuse or "reason" it is never appropriate to send a photo like this to a 13 year old. I would caution any person against sending any photos of themselves to a 13 year old over DM who they are not related to. When I was a scout leader we were told to never ever DM a youth or text a youth or anything other than public communication.
I have to say this.. when I was 11 I looked like a 18 year old. I had the body of an adult woman and no one thought I was still a child. At 13 I could get served alcohol. I looked like an adult. Emotionally I was still a child. I had the decision making skills of a young teenager. We must protect young people from predator older adults. If we fail to do this then we have let down our children. Believe the child. If nothing happened (which people yammer on about but it is very rare that false accusations are made) then an investigation will figure it out. But until this is known for sure other young women deserved to be protected from Morgan's antics in the 2 years that lapsed. If F/Z knew for 2 years about this and failed to report it then they are, at least in part, responsible if Morgan did other acts such as this.
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