A stunning week for USA Gymnastics just went from bad to worse.
Less than 48 hours after its interim president and CEO resigned four days into her tenure, former USAG president Steve Penny was arrested by the U.S. Marshals’ Smoky Mountain Fugitive Task Force in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
On September 28, Penny was indicted by a Walker County, Texas grand jury for allegedly tampering with evidence pertinent to an investigation into sexual assault charges against Larry Nassar — a former team doctor at USAG and Michigan State University who is currently serving a de-facto life sentence after being convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault.
According to the indictment, Penny ordered the removal of Nassar-related documents from the Texas-based Karolyi Ranch, the former national team training site for USAG, with the express purpose of “impairing the ongoing investigation by destroying or hiding the documents.”
Those documents were sent to him at USAG headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, but have yet to be recovered.
These missing documents leave even more questions about the consequences of the FBI’s inaction on this case. USA Gymnastics was notified of allegations against Nassar in the summer of 2015. Five weeks later, after an internal investigation, the organization forced Nassar to step down, but allowed him to publicly portray his departure as a choice of his own making. They then alerted the FBI of the allegations, but the agency’s investigation did not begin in earnest for nearly a year. During that time period, Nassar remained on the job at Michigan State, where he continued to sexually assault patients.
Even now, years later, the missing documents suggests the FBI has yet to issue a search warrant for USAG headquarters, Nassar’s office at MSU, or the Karolyi Ranch. Perhaps if they had taken swift action, the documents could have been recovered, and dozens of young women might never have fallen victim to a sexual predator.
There is currently a Department of Justice investigation into the FBI’s handling of the case, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Despite the fact that Nassar is already in prison for the rest of his life, most of his enablers continue to live and work free of any consequences or accountability. So far, Michigan and Texas have led the way in pursuit of justice for Nassar survivors. A few weeks ago, a judge in Lansing, Michigan sent a case against former MSU gymnastics coach Kathy Klages to trial. Nassar survivors recounted telling Klages about Nassar’s abuse as early as 1997, but she didn’t take any action at the time, and then allegedly lied to investigators about those reports last year.
Last month, Texas officials arrested former USA Gymnastics trainer Debbie Van Horn, who worked closely with Nassar at the Karolyi Ranch and was reportedly often in the room while he assaulted patients.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Penny was on a family vacation in Tennessee when he was arrested on Wednesday. His lawyer claims he did not know about his indictment in Texas, and wasn’t trying to evade arrest.
“He was arrested when a team of armored marshals suddenly arrived at a vacation cabin while he was sitting with his wife and three children,” said his lawyer, Edith Matthai. “Mr. Penny is confident that when all the facts are known the allegations against him will be disproven.”
USA Gymnastics issued a statement on Thursday morning, suggesting they were cooperating with any ongoing investigations.
USA Gym has learned of the charges filed against Steve Penny. We support law enforcement’s efforts and have fully cooperated with the investigations by the Texas Rangers, Congress and others, and will continue do so to help the survivors and our community heal from this tragedy.
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) October 18, 2018
Penny is being charged with a third-degree felony, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. This might only be the beginning of his legal troubles, too.
Aly Raisman and other Nassar survivors have accused Penny of lying to them and telling them not to speak publicly about Nassar’s abuse because of the ongoing FBI investigation, even though the FBI investigation had not even begun and the FBI never requested such silence.
“Steve Penny was trying to control when I was going to be interviewed by the FBI,” Raisman told ESPN. “He was trying to control every part of it. The biggest priority was to make sure I kept it quiet so they’d have a good Olympics. It’s disgusting.”
Penny was also responsible for signing a $1.25 million non-disclosure agreement with former Olympian McKayla Maroney in an attempt to keep her silent about Nassar’s abuse.
And USAG’s systemic enabling of sexual abuse under Penny’s reign goes far beyond the Nassar case.
In 2016, an IndyStar investigation revealed that at least 368 gymnasts in the past 20 years allege abuse at the hands of coaches or authority figures associated with USAG. Penny would often hide reports of abuse in his desk. In June 2017, the Daniels Report revealed that USAG systematically failed on almost every conceivable level to protect its athletes.
This summer, Penny appeared in front of Congress at a hearing related to the Nassar case. He had to be subpoenaed in order to appear, and refused to answer any of the questions, pleading the fifth every time.
In early 2017, Penny was forced out as USAG President due to pressure from the US Olympic Committee. He was reportedly given a $1.25 million severance package. The dysfunction at the top of USAG did not end with his departure, though.
In December, USAG hired Kerry Perry as its new president and CEO. Her nine-month tenure was disastrous — she alienated survivors, avoided the press at all costs, and was forced out after hiring an elite development coordinator who had defended Nassar and victim-shamed survivors.
Last week, USAG announced a new interim president and CEO, Mary Bono. But Bono resigned on Tuesday after an anti-Kaepernick tweet surfaced and her connection with the law firm that helped the USAG cover up Nassar’s abuse was scrutinized by high-profile survivors.
“We, as a Board, are committed to taking action when we believe a change of course is necessary and to being responsive to our gymnastics community,” the USAG Board of Directors said in a statement about Bono’s resignation.
“While we continue the search for a permanent president and CEO and are currently seeking input from key stakeholders on that search, we remain steadfast in our efforts to fundamentally transform the organization at all levels to ensure athlete safety and well-being is at the heart of everything we do.”