USA Swimming Releases List of 36 Men Banned for Sexual Misconduct
Former director of national USA Swimming team Everett Uchiyama named.
May 26, 2010— -- Under pressure to publicly name individuals banned for life from coaching or membership, USA Swimming has released its list of men who it has permanently barred, mostly for sexual misconduct allegations.
The list names 46 individuals: 36 banned for sex-related offenses, two banned under allegations of fraud, deception or dishonesty, two for alleged felonies that aren't specified, and one accused of using illegal drugs or substances. The remaining five don't have offenses listed.
USA Swimming said it would publish the list after an ABC News "20/20" investigation in April revealed the number of coaches who had been banned due to sexual misconduct. The organization, which is the governing body of swimming in the U.S., previously declined to release the names.
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The highest profile is Everett Uchiyama, the director of the U.S. national team from 2002 until his suspension in Jan. 2006.
USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus told ABC News' "20/20" that he received information "a number of years ago" that Uchiyama, now listed as the Director of Aquatics at a Colorado country club, "had an inappropriate relationship with an athlete who he was coaching.
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"I immediately confronted [Uchiyama] with that information," Wielgus said. "He affirmed that it was true. I accepted his resignation and he is banned from life from being a member of USA Swimming."
Swim coaches told ABC News that when Uchiyama suddenly resigned from his position on Jan. 26, 2006, it was under a cloud of suspicion, especially after the success of his team. During his tenure, the U.S. swim team took home 12 gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, including Michael Phelps' six.
Uchiyama did not respond to repeated requests for comment by ABC News.
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Another former coach on the list because of sexual misconduct is Chris Wheat, who pleaded guilty last week to two felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and one felony count of child solicitation. Prosecutors had alleged that Wheat sexually victimized one of his 14-year-old female swimmers on multiple occasions in his coach's office in Sept. 2009.
Jesse Stovall, who pleaded no contest in April to having sex with one of his underage star swimmers, is also named.
Others on the list include Andy King and Brian Hindson, both subjects of the "20/20" investigation.
King, 62, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in January after authorities discovered a pattern of sexual abuse that stretched over three decades up and down the West Coast and involved more than a dozen teen female victims.
Hindson, of Kokomo, IN, secretly taped teenage girls he coached in two high school pool locker rooms, one in which he directed girls to a "special" shower room where he had a hidden camera inside a locker. He was sentenced in 2008 to 33 years in federal prison.
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At least four lawsuits have been filed against USA Swimming due to sexual misconduct cases, in a sexual abuse scandal that many victims have compared to what happened in the Catholic Church.
After the "20/20" investigation, USA Swimming announced it would develop new guidelines for acceptable behavior by coaches, enhance the reporting system for sexual abuse to both the organization and law enforcement, review its Code of Conduct, examine its background screening program, talk to member clubs about pre-employment screening, evaluate sharing coaching history records with swimming clubs and other youth organizations, and educate swimmers, parents, coaches and swimming club leaders.
At a board meeting earlier this month, USA Swimming adopted four proposals to protect its swimmers from sexual abuse at the hands of coaches, including a hot line and counseling service, an athlete protection committee, the publication of a list of coaches who have been banned, and increased staffing within the organization.
CONTACT THE ABC NEWS INVESTIGATIVE TEAM IF YOU HAVE A STORY TO ADD TO THIS INVESTIGATION.
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