Don Peters – Hall of Infamy

It’s all over the mainstream news.

… USA Gymnastics, the sport’s national governing body, placed Peters, 64, on the organization’s permanently ineligible list and removed him from the sport’s Hall of Fame on Wednesday after at least three women accused him of sexually abusing young gymnasts in the 1980s.

“A USA Gymnastics’ hearing panel has concluded the investigation regarding Don Peters and has ruled that Peters will be listed as “permanently ineligible” for membership in USA Gymnastics, and that Peters’ membership in the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame will be revoked, along with any rights and privileges connected to either,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement Wednesday. The organization would have no further comment, a spokesperson said.

The hearing panel’s decision is final and concludes the disciplinary process per USA Gymnastics’ bylaws. …

If you believe it’s a witch hunt, SCOTT M. REID of THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER is leading the pitchfork wielding mob. Here’s his take on the announcement – Don Peters, iconic Olympics coach, banned by U.S. Gymnastics

Let’s say Don Peters is guilty. Justice has been served though not with the due process he’d get in a court of law. I hope the victims get some closure and relief. I only wish he’d have been found “guilty” sooner.

Let’s speculate that he’s innocent, or guilty of lesser crimes, he’s finished anyway, with or without this official relegation to the Hall of Infamy.

All male coaches are tarnished, too, in the minds of the general public. 😦

… What about others who knew and did not act?

I’m still looking for the right wrap-up on the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal in so far as it relates to gymnastics coaches. How much are enablers to blame?

It’s a more complicated issue than it appears to the pitchfork wielding mob.