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WP: This national youth sports organization is failing to protect kids from sexual abuse
Investigators found the AAU misled families about safety measures and let eight banned coaches keep working with children, despite repeated reform pledges.
- A joint investigation by ProPublica and The Washington Post found the Amateur Athletic Union fails to adequately protect hundreds of thousands of children from sexual abuse, misleading the public about its prevention measures.
- When Congress created SafeSport in 2018 to oversee youth sports, the AAU was exempted because it is not a sanctioned governing body, allowing it to avoid mandatory training and disciplinary compliance requirements.
- The AAU Board of Review exonerated executive Matt Williams within six months of sexual abuse accusations from teenager Ashlee Orndorff without interviewing witnesses, despite her providing 10 corroborating witnesses in depositions.
- ProPublica and The Post identified eight people who coached AAU-affiliated teams within five years despite being banned by SafeSport or national governing bodies, violating the organization's 2012 pledge to bar such individuals.
- Despite safety failures, the AAU reported nearly $44 million in 2024 revenue and holds around $30 million in reserves while hosting 760,000 athletes and coaches nationwide, with more than 2,500 coaches on SafeSport's disciplinary list.
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This National Youth Sports Organization Is Failing to Protect Kids From Sexual Abuse
More than a decade after the Amateur Athletic Union promised to implement “historic child protection measures,” it still hasn’t done so, leaving hundreds of thousands of kids at risk. Some AAU athletes have had devastating experiences.
·New York, United States
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This National Youth Sports Organization Is Failing to Protect Kids From Sexual Abuse – BishopAccountability.org
This story contains descriptions of sexual abuse. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Reporting Highlights Promised Reforms: The Amateur Athletic Union said it would implement “historic” reforms after a child sex abuse scandal in 2011, including mandatory training. It still hasn’t done so. “People Tried to Cover It Up”: A few years later, the …
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Total News Sources4
Leaning Left3Leaning Right0Center0Last UpdatedBias Distribution100% Left
Bias Distribution
- 100% of the sources lean Left
100% Left
L 100%
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