Former French skaters come forward about sexual abuse in FFSG | Page 6 | Golden Skate

Former French skaters come forward about sexual abuse in FFSG

Andrea82

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Feb 16, 2014
French Federation announced today that after consulting with the ministry, they will go ahead with the election scheduled for tomorrow.

Marie-Reine Le Gougne withdrew her candidacy today because of health reasons.
Marc Bella and Hubert Godefroy were previously excluded because of issued related to their membership.

3 of the 4 remaining candidates (Damien Boyer-Gibaud, Gilles Jouanny and Michel-Ange Marie Calixte) have issued a press release tonight condeming the decision to hold the election tomorrow rather than suspending it

https://www.nouvelobs.com/sport/202...tion-a-la-federation-des-sports-de-glace.html
 

Andrea82

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Feb 16, 2014
Nathalie Péchalat is the new president of Fédération française des sports de glace.
She received 504 this morning against 154 blank ballot papers. The other candidates withdrew last night
 

Edwin

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Nathalie Péchalat is the new president of Fédération française des sports de glace.
She received 504 this morning against 154 blank ballot papers. The other candidates withdrew last night

Now she has the chance to prove she is really changing the federation and its attitude, or to be found a puppet on a string.
 

Nirti

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With the health context in France, maintaining this election was a nonsense...

So good luck for her but I'm not convinced that anything will change.
 

Edwin

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With the health context in France, maintaining this election was a nonsense...

So good luck for her but I'm not convinced that anything will change.

yes, it's most unfortunate politics and public attention has shifted elsewhere. Hopefully L'Equippe and other media stay on the case.
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
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So the French Fed has elected someone who has the support of a sexual predator and who was happy to have that support.

In other words, nothing's changed.

French Sport Minister, nuclear option. Now.
 

Edwin

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Cipres posted support. And she re-posted it and was happy. That's all the chance she gets.

Cipres still the jerk he always was and will be.

Hopefully the Minister of Sports keeps a good tab on FFSG, but with politicians you never know. Otherwise the press should not let go.

Has there been any criminal charges filed against Beyer, his accomplishes and other rotten characters from the past who allegedly committed sexual crimes against minors?
 

Harriet

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Has there been any criminal charges filed against Beyer, his accomplishes and other rotten characters from the past who allegedly committed sexual crimes against minors?

Not yet; the investigation is, as far as I'm aware, still in progress. And with the country about to go into lockdown I imagine there are more immediate priorities for the next few weeks.

At this point, I'm not trusting Pechalat very much and I'm equally un-thrilled about Candeloro being on the Federal Council because I honestly think he's a lot more mouth than trousers and will flake out when the hard work needs doing.

Time for an earth-shattering kaboom as soon as the situation allows, Minister.
 

Eleanor

On the Ice
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Mar 23, 2018
Give Nathalie a chance before you criticize her!
She also defended her husband after he was criticized for working with Polanski. She wrote that instead of criticizing, we sould watch a documentary about Polanski to "understand the American justice sytem".
The problem is not the justice system, but the fact that Polanski raped a 13 year old after giving her drugs.

Pechalat's place is with DG. In the trash.
 

Edwin

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The pandemic hitting France hard and other recent developments in figure skating kept me from following this affair.

But it is still not resolved, obviously. Gailhaguet demands 300K Euro in compensations, refuses to give up his seat in the FrOC, and obviously still thinks he is unfairly victimised: https://www.lequipe.fr/Patinage-art...vocat-de-la-ffsg-a-roxana-maracineanu/1139593 and many other articles preceding it.

And how is the case of Morgan Cipres vs FFSG/USA Safe Sport and the girl(s) he and his accomplishes harassed and sexually assaulted going?
 

Harriet

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Australia
An update: according to this story published today in L'Equipe (in French), Cipres will appear before the FFSG's disciplinary committee on 9 July.


Paul Peret recently mentioned in an interview with PJ Kwong that almost everything in the FFSG shut down for a few months while the country dealt with the COVID-19 crisis, so it's no surprise it's taken this long to hear of progress in the case.
 

karne

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Hands up if you don't trust the FFSG to do the right thing here.
 

TontoK

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While I get this isn't even talking about the same sport...

I just saw "Athlete A" on Netflix. Even knowing most of what was revealed about Larry Nassar and USGA, I was shocked.

Anyone who thinks that widespread abuse and institutional coverup is something that just can't happen REALLY needs to watch this.

Nassar went to jail, but there are PLENTY of others who should be right in there with him for covering up his crimes.
 

Skater Boy

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Feb 24, 2012
With the health context in France, maintaining this election was a nonsense...

So good luck for her but I'm not convinced that anything will change.

There was concern about her and her aggressiveness to get the job. Well nothing like a little drama to sell skating. Life is so political.
 

MiraiFan

Final Flight
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Oct 6, 2016
While I get this isn't even talking about the same sport...

I just saw "Athlete A" on Netflix. Even knowing most of what was revealed about Larry Nassar and USGA, I was shocked.

Anyone who thinks that widespread abuse and institutional coverup is something that just can't happen REALLY needs to watch this.

Nassar went to jail, but there are PLENTY of others who should be right in there with him for covering up his crimes.

Nassar went to jail, yes, and Penny was eventually arrested, but there were almost no consequences for Faehn or the Karolyis, who convetiently decamped to Romania and probably will never return to the US.
 

Apple1078

Final Flight
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Mar 6, 2020
Investigation reopened involving Olympic figure skater and sexual abuse allegation

Christine Brennan USA TODAY
Published 7:27 AM EDT Jun 30, 2020

The Pasco County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office has reopened its investigation into an allegation of sexual abuse of a 13-year-old American female figure skater by French Olympic pairs skater Morgan Cipres in 2017, a spokesperson for the sheriff told USA TODAY Sports.

“I can confirm the case has been reopened due to new or additional information,” spokesperson Amanda Hunter wrote in an email, adding “this is now an ongoing, active investigation.”

Andrea Lewis, the attorney for the skater and her family, confirmed Monday that the girl is “fully cooperating with the investigation.”

On Dec. 3, 2017, Cipres allegedly direct messaged two photos of his penis on Instagram to the girl, who skated at the same rink as Cipres in Wesley Chapel, Fla. USA TODAY Sports has reviewed those messages, which were sent from what appears to be Cipres’ verified account.

When asked in a December 2019 phone interview if he sent the photos of himself to the girl, Cipres replied, “I cannot talk with you about anything about that. I mean, I have nothing to say about this allegation.”

The U.S. Center for SafeSport opened an investigation into the allegation late last year, according to the girl, her parents and emails obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

The girl and her parents also said Cipres’ coaches, John Zimmerman, a 2002 Olympian and member of the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame, and Silvia Fontana, a 2002 and 2006 Olympian representing Italy, tried to keep the family from reporting the alleged incident to authorities by shaming and threatening the girl as Cipres, who then was 26, prepared for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The skater and her parents said that instead of going to police or SafeSport, which opened in March 2017 to investigate sexual abuse in Olympic sports, they were implored by Zimmerman and Fontana to stay quiet because Cipres and his pairs partner, Vanessa James, were in the final stages of their preparation for the Olympics in South Korea, where they finished fifth.

Zimmerman and Fontana have denied the allegations. The girl and her parents are not being identified because USA TODAY Sports does not publish the names of alleged victims of sexual abuse.

Dara Bushman, a psychologist who worked with the skater, said she “contacted the authorities” after being made aware of the alleged incident in a Dec. 30, 2017 email from the girl’s tutor. “I wanted to make sure the child was safe,” Bushman said.

When the authorities arrived to interview the girl, she refused to tell them what happened, her parents said. Within a few weeks of the alleged incident, the parents said they took their daughter out of the Tampa-area rink and returned to their home in South Florida. She has been in therapy since, they said. The sheriff’s office took no action after the girl declined to cooperate.

“Being victimized by an adult is traumatizing for a child and she still struggles with what happened to her on a daily basis,” Lewis said in an email Monday night. “Not only was she harmed by the perpetrator, but also by other adults that she trusted who attempted to cover up his misconduct and intimidate her into being silent. She is extremely grateful for the words of support from survivors and other people all around the world. Those voices have given her the courage to speak up and do what is necessary to make sure that this never happens again.”

In another development, a five-person disciplinary committee of the French Federation of Ice Sports will meet July 9 to decide what, if any, disciplinary action will be taken against Cipres, according to published reports in France.

Former French skating federation president Didier Gailhaguet, who initially dismissed the allegation of sexual abuse against Cipres, admitted at a news conference on Feb. 5 in Paris that Cipres “did something very stupid. The stupid thing is a photo of himself and his private parts. He made a major mistake ... a shameful act of stupidity.”

Gailhaguet, who resigned three days later over the federation’s handling of allegations of sexual abuse of underage skaters by their coaches, also said at the time that Cipres had resigned from the French sports federation’s council and was being treated by a psychologist.
 
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