Several USA Gymnastics executives resign in wake of Nassar sex abuse scandal
Three members of the Board of Directors executive leadership tendered their resignations on Monday
USA Gymnastics continues to feel the aftershocks of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal. On Monday, it was announced that three board members of the organization would be resigning and stepping down from their executive posts, effective immediately.
Those stepping down are chairman Paul Parilla, vice chairman Jay Binder and treasurer Bitsy Kelley.
USA Gym Board of Directors executive leadership - Chairman Paul Parilla, Vice Chairman Jay Binder & Treasurer Bitsy Kelley - tendered their resignations, effective Jan. 21, 2018. The Board of Directors will identify an interim chairperson until a permanent selection is named.
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) January 22, 2018
"We support their decisions to resign at this time," said Kerry Perry, who took over as USA Gymnastics president and CEO in December. "We believe this step will allow us to more effectively move forward in implementing change within our organization."
The transition comes as Nassar -- the former Team USA doctor that has been accused of sexually assaulting more than 150 women under his care, many of them minors -- continues to sit in court and hear statements from many of his victims, including high-profile stars such as three-time Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman.
The 54-year-old Nassar, who also treated student athletes at Michigan State University, has already been sentenced to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges and will spend the rest of his life behind bars. However, the ramifications of the heinous and prolonged abuse that USA Gymnastics athletes were forced to endure under Nassar will extend beyond just the disgraced doctor.
It's clear that there were serious transgressions that allowed Nassar to prey upon so many victims over such a long period of time, and now responsibility has to be taken. The program has been accused of implementing a "systematic cover-up" that prevented some of Nassar's abusers from speaking about the abuse, and an independent investigation found that a cultural change was needed to make sure it never happens again.
Now, some of those who enabled Nassar's abuse -- whether willfully or through ignorance -- will have to face the music. While the resignations handed in by the executive leadership might be a significant step in ushering in that cultural change, it's also not the only noteworthy change that has been made in recent days.
It was announced last week that USA Gymnastics would no longer be sending athletes to the Karolyi Ranch in Huntsville, Texas, a a prominent training center that hosted monthly camps for athletes. Recently, four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles revealed that Nassar had assaulted her at the ranch. The closure announcement came only after Raisman and Biles put public pressure on USA Gymnastics to change training environments that had previously proven to be toxic for its athletes.
















