Teen's promising swimming career in limbo after he is accused of slapping teammate on the backside

DENVER (AP) — The email, addressed to the 13-year-old swimmer from the U.S. Center for SafeSport, came out of the blue. “Between approximately 2019 and 2022, you allegedly engaged in a pattern of behavior which constitutes Sexual Misconduct,” it read, with both final words capitalized.

That was in April 2022. It took three months for the 8th grader to learn what the accusations were: A claim he had slapped another teammate on the butt in a locker room 10 months earlier, in June 2021.

More than 20 months later, the case remains open, even after local police in the town 40 miles north of Denver investigated and dismissed it within weeks. Now 16 and a high school sophomore, the teen’s promising swimming career has been plunged into uncertainty by the temporary sanctions imposed by SafeSport — and the hard-to-escape taint of presumed guilt as the case drags on.

“Their allegations are entirely untrue,” said the teen, whom The Associated Press is not identifying because he is a minor. “So my reaction, when I heard them, I was thrown off and confused. And then I was upset.”

https://apnews.com/article/butt-slap-safesport-swimming-olympics-sexual-abuse-3699dae4adc281696ae1fbb5f7b76c6a

One would think after nearly three years this matter should have been resolved.