"At no time did I ever abuse Ariana Kukors or do anything with her that was not consensual," the statement said. His swimming club, the King Aquatic Club in Washington state, said in a statement the news "broke our collective hearts." Athletes have denounced U.S. Olympic officials in recent weeks as reacting too slowly to reports of sexual abuse. The criticism grew from the emotionally charged sentencing hearings for Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor who pleaded guilty to sexual abuse last year. The governing body said it first learned of the allegations of sexual abuse while Kukors was a minor when she went public this week.

Source: dna February 09, 2018 06:42 UTC