SAN JOSE, CA, June 11, 2013 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Suzette Moran confirms that she had an intimate relationship with former Olympic swim coach Mitch Ivey starting when she was 16 and that USA Swimming has never contacted her.

Attorney Robert Allard and a former 16 year old swimmer who had an intimate relationship with former Olympic coach Mitch Ivey are calling on Congress to investigate USA Swimming as a result of its failure to investigate and protect swimmers from predators. Allard has learned that the USA Swimming investigation of Mitch Ivey was quietly closed nearly one year ago with no action taken against the coach due to "inconclusive evidence."

According to Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Senior Director of Advocacy, Women’s Sports Foundation and Professor of Law, Florida Coastal School of Law, she provided the names of people that would be helpful in the investigation of Ivey, including Suzette Moran to a USA Swimming investigator in 2011.

Suzette Moran, then 16 years old when she started having a sexual relationship with Ivey, recently confirmed that USA Swimming never contacted her either for this investigation or at any time since her story went public on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" in the early 1990's.

Moran issued the following statement:

"It has come to my attention that over the past few years USA Swimming has been investigating swim coaches for misconduct. After reading articles about various coaches, it appears that USA Swimming is having a difficult time understanding how to conduct comprehensive investigations. I was recently advised that they have cleared Mitch Ivey from any inappropriate actions. It seems that once again they have overlooked several pieces of evidence.

USA Swimming has never contacted me in regards to their investigation of Mitch Ivey. While I do not see myself as a victim, the fact remains that I started having a relationship with Mitch Ivey at 16 and it continued for several years. The relationship was consensual, and completely open to everyone in USA Swimming, family, and friends. It crossed the world of USA Swimming with the ESPN special that I appeared in back in the early 90’s.

The fact that USA Swimming closed their file without trying to contact me is disturbing. It is reminiscent of the Catholic Church. I am very easily located via Facebook, Linkedin, Spokeo, Classmates, and my high school. ESPN found me through the UCLA Athletic Department. It is clear that they made no effort to locate me.

It saddens me that after all of the controversy, Mitch has made the choice to continue to coach, and a team has hired him. It concerns me that the entity who should be investigating and protecting swimmers from predators is still not doing their job, even after such coaches as Andy King and Rick Curl have been incarcerated.

I am publicly asking for Congress to step in and investigate USA Swimming."

Allard stated that, "the leadership at USA Swimming continues to demonstrate that it is utterly incapable of resolving the glaring sexual abuse issue within its ranks." Allard pointed to a 2010 email from USA Swimming's Technical Vice President David Berkoff which identifies Ivey and Moran by name as an example of an improper sexual relationship between a coach and his minor swimmer.

"There is absolutely no excuse for USA Swimming to not interview Ms. Moran. We located her with little effort. In our view, USA Swimming’s leadership doesn’t want to know the truth because it doesn’t care about the truth. These leaders would rather boast about what have proven to us to be worthless rules and 1-800 numbers that they have developed and falsely hold themselves out as champions of sexual abuse victims. These leaders have repeatedly failed the sexual misconduct test and need to remove themselves from office. If they don’t voluntarily resign, Congress should intervene and force them to. This simply has gone on for way too long."

About Attorney Robert Allard
Childhood sexual abuse attorney Robert Allard is a founding partner at Corsiglia, McMahon & Allard. The firm has a national reputation and a proven record of representing victims and their families in seeking civil justice against their molester and/or those that cover up for child molesters.


Press release courtesy of Online PR Media: http://bit.ly/11F2y8g

Robert Allard
Corsiglia, McMahon & Allard
408-289-1417
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