Chicago: A former volunteer gymnastics coach in Missouri, David Schneider has been charged with three counts of child molestation, amid continuing fallout from an abuse scandal roiling the sport.
Schneider was charged this week after police in Washington investigated a female gymnast’s accusations of ‘inappropriate touching’. “During the course of the investigation multiple victims were identified,” the police department said in a statement Tuesday.
The charges were for alleged crimes committed in 2013 and 2014. Authorities fear more victims have yet to come forward, the St Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The 41-year-old volunteer coach has not trained gymnasts since 2014, the newspaper said.
The case is the latest in the aftermath of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal, although the Post-Dispatch said it was unclear whether that high-profile case had prompted victims to come forward against the Missouri coach.
USA Gymnastics set up fund
Indianapolis: USA Gymnastics has established a fund designed to assist gymnasts who were victims of former sports doctor Larry Nassar. The organisation’s president, Kerry Perry, says it wants to provide the financial support for the young women and girls to access counseling and mental health services. The Athlete Assistance Fund, announced Wednesday, is in cooperation with the National Gymnastics Foundation. Nassar molested young girls and women many of them gymnasts while claiming to be treating them for injuries. He is serving a 60-year federal prison sentence for child pornography crimes. He’s also been sentenced twice to at least 40 years in state prison in Michigan for sexual assaults.
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