A Florida judge said the U.S. Center for SafeSport “perpetuated a fraud” and intentionally withheld evidence in a criminal case brought at the encouragement of one of the center’s investigators.
In a ruling Tuesday related to the expunction of misdemeanor charges against a female water polo player, Seminole County judge John Woodard said SafeSport violated the woman’s due process rights by withholding evidence that would have cleared her. Even after prosecutors recognized there was no basis for the charges, SafeSport continued to stonewall, Woodard said.
“SafeSport acted in bad faith, intentionally and with malice,” Woodard said in his ruling, “and the court finds the evidence of fraud, collusion, pretense and similar wrongdoing to be clear, convincing, intentional and beyond doubt.”
In a statement, SafeSport said Woodard’s order lacked jurisdictional, factual or legal basis.
“This is a stunt designed to interfere in the Center’s ability to hold individuals accountable for sexual misconduct,” SafeSport said in a statement.
Following sexual abuse scandals in several sports, Congress created SafeSport as an independent body to handle abuse complaints in the Olympic movement. Almost since it opened in 2017, however, SafeSport has been criticized for its lengthy delays in resolving complaints and investigative and appeals processes that both sides of the process have deemed unfair and insensitive.
But Woodard’s rebuke is the most stunning criticism yet.
Kelsey McMullan, then 18 years old and a high school senior, went to SafeSport in February 2022 to report bullying by teammates. According to court records, after talking with the teammates, a SafeSport investigator encouraged police to open a sexual abuse case against McMullan.
McMullan was able to provide evidence refuting the accusations against her, including an acknowledgment by one of the teammates that what she’d told police was not true. The charges against her were dropped 15 months later.
But Woodard blasted SafeSport for not providing McMullan earlier with evidence it knew would clear her. He also was furious the center refused to cooperate when police and prosecutors decided to investigate the other women for potential falsification of a report.
“The exculpatory information is and was within the knowledge, custody and control of SafeSport,” Woodard wrote. “The exculpatory information is and was within a SafeSport file that was the subject of numerous court orders and properly issued subpoenas. The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, the State’s Attorney Office and defense counsel went above and beyond any duty, and made every reasonable and good faith effort to obtain the exculpatory material and compliance by SafeSport to no avail.”
Woodard ordered the charges against McMullan erased, making it as if the case never happened. But Russell Prince, McMullan’s attorney, said nothing can erase the trauma McMullan suffered in fighting the charges.
“The Center is irreparably broken and serves neither claimants or respondents in a fundamentally fair and lawful manner,” he said. “These actions are consistent with a pattern of conduct that the Center employs on a regular basis. This time, they were finally held accountable according to commonly accepted standards of fairness and due process.”
