U.S. Olympic Committee has fired its chief of sport performance, Alan Ashley, in the wake of an independent report into two Olympic organizations and their inaction after learning about Larry Nassar's sexual assault allegations.
Ashley was fired Monday morning after USOC CEO Sarah Hirshland learned about a report on the lack of action after he and the USOC's former CEO, Scott Blackmun, learned of the allegations.
The USOC in February hired the law firm Ropes & Gray to look into when top USA Gymnastics and USOC officials first knew about Nassar and whether they acted on it.
USA Today is reporting that heads of those organizations did not act on information that was presented to them about abuse by Nassar.
Ropes & Gray's 233-page report provides a detailed look at the inaction of Blackmun and Ashley. It was given to USA Today before it was released to the public Monday afternoon, according to the news report.
The report states that both men were told about Nassar from then-USA Gymnastics CEO Steve Penny in July 2015 and did nothing about it.
The Indianapolis Star made the Nassar abuse public in its report on Sept. 12, 2016.
The law firm states in its executive summary that Nassar’s ability to abuse more than 350 women and girls for nearly 30 years “is a manifestation of the broader failures at USAG and the USOC to adopt appropriate child-protective policies and procedures to ensure a culture of safety for young athletes.”
The report states that Blackmun received an email from Penny on Sept. 8, 2015, that identified Nassar as the sports team doctor who was accused of sexual misconduct by national gymnasts. He deleted it the day he received it. Ashley also is reported to have deleted that email.
“Specifically, having registered its significance, Mr. Blackmun stated in his interview that he may have purposely deleted the September 8, 2015 email, noting its sensitivity and explaining that he was concerned about the potential for his email account to be hacked,” according to the report.
The report also states that Blackmun said, during his interview with investigators, that he’d “initiated an internal effort at the USOC to alert his SafeSport team to the allegations and to confirm that the USOC was taking all appropriate steps to respond to the allegations and ensure athlete safety.”
But the investigation found no evidence of the conversation; no email, calendar entry or other record indicating any effort to address the Nassar allegations until after the Indy Star report in September 2016. And no one remembers any conversation or meeting about those concerns, according to the report.
The law firm’s report comes more than two years after the Indy Star’s investigation and further revelations showed Nassar had molested hundreds of girls and women under the guise of medical treatment.
The law firm reviewed more than 1.3 million documents and interviewed more than 100 people to compile its report, according to the USA Today. These interviews included gymnasts and employees and board members of the USAG and USAG, as well as the U.S. Center for SafeSport.
Read the full report and other information on the law firm's Larry Nassar investigation on its website: nassarinvestigation.com
