Page 17 - ARUBA TODAY

A17
Tuesday 7 augusT 2018

Fighting

sex abuse BURST

in Olympic

sports a OF

difficult

task SPRINGER

By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer
Judges, event organizers
and even some riders were
caught off-guard ear-
lier this year when a well-
known equestrian judge
got booted out of one of
the year's biggest horse
shows.
Turns out, the judge's name
had been flagged by the
U.S. Center for SafeSport,
the newly created office
charged with overseeing
sex-abuse cases in Olym-
pic sports, because he
had pleaded guilty to mis-
demeanor sex assault five
years earlier, in a case that
had nothing to do with mi-
nors or anyone in his sport.
Had he been at the show
in a Philadelphia suburb
working as a trainer, how-
ever, his case may have
never been discovered.
While judges in the horse-
show world receive maxi-
mum scrutiny in an effort
to protect athletes from
sex abuse, the federation
that oversees the sport on
the Olympic level does not
apply the same standards
to the vast majority of the
sport's trainers and coach- Dodgers salvage
es — the individuals who
have the most day-to-day
contact with the riders. series Astros with
The case involving the
judge, Robert Bielefeld, of- 3-2 win in finale
fers an eye-opening win-
dow into some of the dif-
ficulties and unintended
consequences presented
by the U.S. Olympic move-
ment’s mission to combat Houston Astros' George Springer celebrates his solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles
sex-abuse within its ranks. Dodgers in Los Angeles, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018.
Associated Press
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