Robert Griswold: Paralympic gold medalist swimmer accused of raping and abusing teammate

Muricas News  — 

Paralympic gold medalist swimmer Robert Griswold “maliciously focused,” groomed and sexually abused a youthful, intellectually disabled teammate, a civil lawsuit filed on Friday in Colorado alleges.

He allegedly abused now-19-year-old Parker Egbert, who has suffered from developmental delay and mental incapacity his total life making him “considerably extra weak to abuse”, throughout the Tokyo Paralympic Video games and on the US Olympic & Paralympic Coaching Heart (OPTC) situated in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“This case is a horrific tragedy, the place a younger man who defied all odds to develop into a world-class Paralympic swimmer had his life totally shattered by rape and abuse when he was paired with a crew member who was a violent sexual predator,” the lawsuit says.

Straight due to Griswold’s “vicious acts” and “the repeated failures of USOPC (the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee) and SafeSport to uphold their duties,” the lawsuit says that Egbert has “suffered extreme bodily accidents, ache and struggling, and excessive psychological and emotional misery, most of which is prone to endure for the remainder of his life.”

Griswold had not responded to Muricas News’s request for remark on the time of publication.

When contacted by Muricas News, Egbert’s attorneys stated they might converse with their shopper earlier than making a press release.

The lawsuit additionally alleges that the USOPC and SafeSport – an unbiased non-profit group dedicated to ending abuse and harassment towards athletes – didn't “warn, supervise and/or defend Plaintiff,” both deliberately or negligently failing to uphold their respective duties.

“The allegations introduced forth by the criticism filed in the present day are extraordinarily regarding and we take them very significantly,” the USOPC stated in a press release to Muricas News.

“We’ve made the choice to put two employees members on administrative go away and have additionally stopped the work of a number of contractors with U.S. Paralympics Swimming. We’re additionally persevering with our investigation of the allegations to assist us decide the details, and we're dedicated to taking applicable motion.”

SafeSport and USA Swimming haven't responded to Muricas News’s request for remark on the time of publication.

Griswold was issued with a brief suspension by the U.S. Heart for SafeSport on August 23 2022 on account of “allegations of misconduct” and positioned on a database that's designed for abuse prevention and training in sports activities.

The Colorado Springs Police Division had not responded to Muricas News’s request for remark on the time of publication.

Egbert was born with autism, didn't converse till he was six, and “presently has the psychological capability of a five-year outdated,” the lawsuit says.

Swimming turned a type of “playtime, remedy time,” his mom says within the lawsuit, and he discovered success within the pool, competing in three completely different occasions on the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Video games held in August and September 2021.

In keeping with the lawsuit, on the Paralympic trials in June 2021, Griswold “made a concerted effort to ‘befriend’ [Egbert], continuously referring to [Egbert] as his ‘little buddy.’”

In the course of the Video games, Griswold ensured that Egbert was all the time “seated subsequent to him on airplane and bus rides and was given extended unsupervised entry” to him since they shared a room within the Olympic Village, and “the grooming intensified,” the lawsuit states.

“The USOPC noticed Griswold partaking on this conduct and allowed it to proceed,” the lawsuit provides.

Griswold, who was born with cerebral palsy, gained two gold medals at Tokyo 2020.

One other athlete, who was not recognized within the lawsuit, allegedly witnessed the abuse Egbert suffered from Griswold, in line with the lawsuit, and he turned so indignant that he punched the wall of the room the place the three athletes have been staying.

In December that yr, Egbert gained three gold medals on the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Nationwide Championship and was invited to stay and prepare on the OPTC in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Egbert and Griswold turned roommates there, permitting the abuse to proceed and intensify, the lawsuit says.

Egbert “refused to take showers which was the place Griswold would rape and sexually abuse” him, the lawsuit says, and he started writing tales as a way of escape together with one which he titled ‘Spookley and the Hurricane.’

The story, in line with the lawsuit, was a couple of group of pals who have been “courageous” in defeating “a robust hurricane known as Hurricane Robert,” which Egbert known as a “monster.”

After his dad and mom requested Egbert about this story, he revealed Griswold’s abuse to them however after they expressed their considerations, “USOPC declined to answer the difficulty,” the lawsuit says.

Because of the “acts and omissions” of Griswold, USOPC and SafeSport, the lawsuit says, Egbert has “needed to make the tough choice to go away behind his lifelong dream,” of being a Paralympic swimmer.

The lawsuit goes on to allege that “Griswold used his standing within the Olympic and Paralympic Swimming neighborhood to hold out a scientific sample of abuse, whereby he would search out and groom weak athletes, particularly minor and disabled Paralympic athletes dwelling and coaching at the USA Olympic & Paralympic Coaching Heart situated in Colorado.”

USOPC and SafeSport had information of “credible allegations” of abuse towards Griswold, the lawsuit says, “but conspired to cover-up such allegations” due to his success as a Paralympic swimmer.