Ceci Christy was in attendance for the sentencing of Rick Curl, and relayed the following information from the post-sentencing press conference. Note that the claims made by those below are their perspective, and this is simply an account of the press-conference.
After former high-level swim coach Rick Curl was sentenced to seven years in prison, plus five years of probation, on Thursday, for one count of custodial sexual abuse, victim Kelley (Davies) Currin spoke in front of media that had gathered.
Her statement centered around USA Swimming and their role in the case. Currin declared that she “wants to send a message to USA Swimming.”
She also called on an investigation by congress, saying that USA Swimming allowed Curl to remain a coach even though they knew what was happening.
She echoed comments made by Judge Marielsa Bernard made during the sentencing and said that Curl’s last 27 years were the good life, while her’s was an uphill climb.
As to the sentence, Currin said that she was satisfied with the outcome.
A hotly-debated topic has been the chronology of the report to USA Swimming. Currin after the trial stated that in the spring of 2011, USA Swimming contacted her saying that they were investigating Curl, and she subsequently sent the settlement to them. She then saw Curl on deck at the Olympic Trials on television, and decided at that point that she had to make her case public. This doesn’t necessarily disagree with the timeline USA Swimming gave last year.
Also after the trial, where those in attendance were witness to Curl being taken away to jail immediately, Ed Vasquez, a spokesperson for attorney Bob Allard who has been a prominent figure in this case indicated that more sorrow in the story of sexual abuse could be coming. He claimed that there was another coach in Maryland who has molested at least 10 swimmers but victims do not want to come forward now.
Without swimmers coming forward, those claims remain unsubstantiated.
I’m surprised they aren’t targeting the state of Maryland too. According to the U. of Maryland the Attorney General was informed 25 years ago.
I believe this is part of a culture challenge. This case is clearly going for the outrage /defend the homeland . The other side is the ( did it really ever go away ) sexual freedom argument .
Preferably ASCA gets fired and three new organizations (an educational arm, a testing arm, a safe sport arm) all run by capable professionals who educate, test and certify coaches as competent crime-free or safe to be around. Thus these organizations become USA Swimming’s “firewall” and assume the liability.
USA Triathlon does not certify coaches; they just field an Olympic team. If USA Swimming insists on certifying coaches and ASCA can’t do it right or offer the protection they need then USA Swimming should outsource the liability to those that can.
As for Wielgus, Berkoff, Leonard and others (the Three Stooges?) They should step aside and let the organization reboot (much like the Catholic church has done as of late)… Read more »
My contribution is to note that this week a 36 year old male teacher – Daniel Reilly – in Ny was jailed for 6 months for a sexual affair with a 13 year old female student.
6 months is very different to 7 years.
Anyone care to comment?
Sure, the equity in this process is a direct correlation to the attorney compensation and the publicity involved in the case. Allard & Co. are a PR firm with a bar license. This story was brandished by many national level articles. How many people nationally could place Daniel Reilly’s name this morning? Relatively few.
The equity in this process is not the crime and time according to the offense, it is how well funded and aggressive the plaintiff side is. In the Curl case the plaintiffs were organized, well funded and super aggressive. This comment is not an enabler comment or an advocacy for Curl who deserved to be punished. USA Swimming deserves shame. But anyone who believes this is… Read more »
“Allard & Co. are a PR firm with a bar license”
Best statement I’ve read in all the threads.
So what did Currin (or her attorneys, as you seem to like to point out) get out of coming forward right now? From this comment, you’d assume it’d be kabillions of dollars.
From my comment you can assume – I think safely that Allard & Co. and Kelley Curran have eyes on what another poster noted quite well: induce the US Congress to shine a bigger and brighter light on this where it should not be directed…which is at USA Swimming. And if they can use the Congressional investigation they are trying to parlay now into a reality, that creates the discovery to rocket docket a claim against USA Swimming and possibly also style it as a “whistleblower” lawsuit and try to lay the litigation expenses off on the government if the US government joines a claim that USA Swimming was negligent. I don’t believe for one second these pareties are not… Read more »
Doesn’t seem like there’s a huge monetary gain for anyone there, aside from like, recouping legal fees. (BUT THE LEGAL FEES WILL GO TO…LAWYERS!)
It wouldn’t be a bad thing to take down USA Swimming.
So this is from the NY Post, so take it with the requisite grains of salt: “But under a deal designed at least partly to spare his young victim a trial, Reilly received just four months’ prison, plus 10 years’ probation.” Source.
I’m no lawyer, but comparing cases based on simply how much jail time is involved misses a lot of random little intricate particulars. There are a million things involved in these things.
OLD TIMER – I am very sorry about your child’s experience, and I certainly take extreme care when I place them in anyone’s care….trust me when I say that someone like Curl deserves much harsher punishment than a few years in a white collar prison.
I’v read Currin’s statement, and know her lawyer’s strategy is to leverage US Govt. legal resources (via Hearings) to research a case against an upstanding non-profit organization that doesn’t deserve any of this. If Ms. Currin has been wronged by any organization, it is the United States, and its horrid legal system. I think she should sue the US Govt., the State of Maryland, and Montgomery County MD. Their rules did not protect her. But… Read more »
These cases of abuse happen far too often and victims need to feel safe to report these crimes. You know there is some kid out there reading these stories on the internet and
God forbid she/he read any of the comments by people like “Enough”.
At some point FINA is also going to be sued. There are a lot of coaches that have abused, moving from one country to the next.
If you defend the Organisation that is meant to keep our athletes out of harm’s way you are part of the problem. Nobody is looking to burn witches , we just want swimming administrators to do their job looking after the athletes and their families first and foremost.
Kelly Currin did nothing wrong and just go read her Victims statement to get some of the facts that would have come out in the trial……..then take a deep breath and realise why she needs to make sure that USA Swimming does everything to avoid this sort of thing and any bullying in the future. If the lawyers insist upon seeking cash then we should not be blaming Kelly for that… Read more »