David Berkoff gave an interview to the Missoulian website. The bulk of the interview was essentially Berkoff explaining why he has no culpability in his failure to report Rick Curl to the police let alone USA Swimming. It also includes a full and complete admission that he was convinced Rick Curl molested Kelly Currin:“I assumed [Rick Curl] was long gone and would never come back to the United States because his past was catching up to him. That was my suspicion. " -- David Berkoff
Note, David Berkoff is a lawyer and he admits in the above quote that he knew all about Rick Curl's past and had suspicions that Rick Curl would stay in Australia to avoid arrest. Obviously this lawyer named David Berkoff never heard of extradition nor phoning the police. Instead he was willing to wait.
The sadest thing about this interview is that he never once apologized to Kelly Currin which is very reminiscent of Chuck Wielgus refusing to apologize on the ABC News program 20/20 to the Victims in the Andrew King case.
When Berkoff was confronted by the Missoulian with his email statements he made to Jeff Chida and Mike Saltzstein about Mitch Ivey molesting swimmers and Kely Currin being molested by Rick Curl, Berkoff refuses to take full responsibility for his statements despite that all the quotes therein were printed in their full and complete context. He belittles these emails twice by stating that Kelly Currin's pro-bono attorney, Robert Allard, "cherry picked" these emails so as to indict his character.
No David, you have indicted yourself:
“We were talking about what do we do to change USA Swimming?” he said. “(Allard) has all these emails and cherry picks the ones he thinks are damning.The above is patently false. What Berkoff was talking about in these emails, and I read each one, was a conversation he had with Pablo Morales and Matt Biondi; (Morales has categorically denied the conversation), about how outraged he was over the Kelly Currin being molested and Mitch Ivey "banging swimmers."
On face value this an outrageous statement:
“I put these emotional emails out there, kind of shooting first and checking for bodies later, and I was asked to submit a proposal in 2010 to the board. That’s what promoted USA Swimming to adopt (enhanced) background checks, mandatory training on code of conduct and a 1-800 number to call in and report incidents.”
This proposal he submitted in 2010 was posted on the Swimming World message board and should be held up side-by-side with what I wrote on January 31, 2010 here: [Link].
Finally, Berkoff takes complete and total credit away from Susan Woessner's Safe Sport team as if he was the guiding force for both its policy and implementation. This personally disgusts me. His title at USA Swimming is Technical Vice President or something or rather and to claim he was the focal point for the implementation of such policies is a stealing credit for work he did not do. Berkoff has no subsequent child protection bullet points in his resume yet he is claiming he has some now.
From the Missoulian:
“John Leonard was on the subcommittee and told me he was opposed to an all-out ban on swimmer-coach relationships because he had married one of his former swimmers. I finally threw in the towel out of frustration because no one wanted to stand up for background checks or banning coach-swimmer relationships.”
Berkoff clarified the email on Thursday.
“We were talking about what do we do to change USA Swimming?” he said. “(Allard) has all these emails and cherry picks the ones he thinks are damning.
“I put these emotional emails out there, kind of shooting first and checking for bodies later, and I was asked to submit a proposal in 2010 to the board. That’s what promoted USA Swimming to adopt (enhanced) background checks, mandatory training on code of conduct and a 1-800 number to call in and report incidents.”
[Link]
Now, if you have made it to the bottom of this blog post, do you really believe David Berkoff was the sole reason why USA Swimming has a 1-800-number to report instances of sexual abuse and conducts mandatory background checks? Could it be just a bit of outrageous bragging on his part? (I think so too.)
I for one see him as a politician trying anemically to take credit for something way outside his expertise thereby degrading the teams who were responsible so as to further his own career.
The Disney character "Pinocchio" comes to mind.
11 comments:
Here is something I learned from all of this:
Unless you put it into writing, you never said it.
Morales could be telling the truth. He could be lying. He never put it into writing, so we will never know.
Example to Support My Theory: I heard two of my coaches talking about a girl sitting on Andy King's lap at a swim meet. I'm sure they deny it now. They never put it into writing, so it's as good as having never said it at all.
To be clear: Were it not for Bob Allard, there'd be no policy changes at all. USA Swimming would be allowed to push all of this under the rug. I have to get this out because I do not like how he is vilified.
I'm just trying to understand timelines.
Berkoff heard these rumors about Curl from somewhere. If not Pablo Morales or Matt Biondi, than from someone closer to the source. So from whom? It couldn't have been the Psychic Network.
I just suspect there's a whole lot more to the story than we will ever know.
More thoughts...
Another thing Bob Allard did was put another pedophile behind bars. One thing I really can't stand is how people leave comments blaming Currin or her parents even of twisted acts of one. It's many years too late, but this is justice.
I guess what's really at question is this: Was Berkoff aware that Curl would be at the Trials? In the article, he says he was completely surprised.
Still, the sad (and wrong) part to me is that somehow, in his mind, a pedophile swim coach is fine in Australia. Does anyone need a reminder that Australia is no longer a penal colony?
I agree... I would much rather break bread with Kelly Currin rather than Rick Curl.
I would rather break bread with Robert Allard than Chuck Wielgus. The same goes for Dia Rianda over Schbert, Jancy Thompson over John Leonard.
Even Craig Lord over at Swim Vortex over David Berkoff. In fact even Craig is going "WTF, WTF, WTF are you guys thinking?"
Craig Lord seems to get the complexity of the situation including the decisions made to not pursue criminal charges and how this changed everything. It is easy to say someone knew but what did they really know. To hear something occurred is a far cry from witnessing it.Rick Curl deserved to be punished and did immeasurable damage to Ms. Currin but blame starts with the choices made when this came out and a settlement was taken. When the people who have the information to share decide not to why should anyone else assume they know better and put themselves out there and risk being wrong? It is not as simple as Berkoff knew and did nothing or others knew and did nothing. The problem with all your arguments are that they show such a disdain for USA Swimming and anyone that supports the sport is viewed as supporting Rick Curl. I know many people who are angry about what has happened but understand it is not as simple as you make it seem. There are good people out there that want to see change and want to ensure the safety of the swimmers but if they disagree with how you might handle it you condemn them. I know I've heard enough about your issues with David Berkhoff. I'm not expecting him to make sweeping changes and be the voice for the sport so let's get back to those at the club level that can be most effective protecting the swimmers by doing their part in researching who they are hiring. USA Swimming to most people is not Weilgus etc it is the swimmers and the families. That is why you lose ground attacking USA Swimming because it is so much more than the people you want to bring down- it is a community of great people that are supporting what they know and love- NOT Rick Curl.
I wish you would have used paragraph breaks.
You say:
"...It is easy to say someone knew but what did they really know. To hear something occurred is a far cry from witnessing it. ..."
If a kid tells their parents there is a drug dealer at school, do the parents "really know" an/or should they report it? I am with the school that says you report it.
"...Rick Curl deserved to be punished and did immeasurable damage to Ms. Currin but blame starts with the choices made when this came out and a settlement was taken. ..."
Choices made? I hope you are not referring to the age of consent but rather the contract her parents signed! Minor children cannot consent to or enter into a binding contract until they reach the age of majority. So, I would hardly call her "contract" a choice or even a contract.
You say:
"...I know many people who are angry about what has happened but understand it is not as simple as you make it seem..."
It is as simple as it seems. It really is.
Berkoff was convinced of the molestation, he acknowledged it in his email thread and recently to the Missoulian.
Next, we have the former USA Swimming National Team Coach, Mark Schubert, testifying under oath that he told the executive director of USA swimming, Chuck Wielgus, that Kelly Currin was molested by Rick Curl.
WIth that in mind don't forget that it was in 2002 or 2003 that Chuck Wielgus received a letter from a 15-year-old female swimmer who I won't named categorically stated that Coach ANdrew King was sexually harassing swimmers and WIelgus told the USA Swimming lawyer: "Let's keep this between you and me."
You say:
"... There are good people out there that want to see change and want to ensure the safety of the swimmers but if they disagree with how you might handle it you condemn them. ..."
Of course their are good people but then there is Chuck Wielgus, Bob Berkoff, Norm H, and jackass John Leonard. Everything I have said to "vilify" them is 100% factual.
Next, have you not seen my postings validating Susan Woessner? I liken her to "cow-grrrl" in the wild west rooting out pedophiles from the sport.
I to have filed a complaint with USA Swimming regarding what I believed to be an instance of a sexual assault and it was handled professionally and to the letter of the rules.
I can get into executive salaries but I am late for work.
I have been trying to use names and policies only, not the organization but it befuddles me how unengaged the parents are and actually let USA Swimming exec management teram get away with what they do. ie. A shell corporation in the Caymans, $3/4-million for Chuck WIelgus. Come on, this is not a business, it is a youth based organization.
Thank you for your comment.
Clarification: I was the swimmer who sent the complaint about Andy King (and also the first and second anon poster here). I was in my early thirties when I wrote it, about an event that occurred when I was 19 years old, at a club swim practice, mostly minors, very young teenagers. And as I would painfully learn later, many were his victims.
Otherwise, yes, it is true, Chuck Wielgus told other board members involved in the email thread to stay quiet about it, as it would make the sport look bad.
This complaint disappeared, and would not resurface again until 2010 or so. The entire thread, with Wielgus' instructions, was sent to me in a .pdf.
Or are you speaking of another complaint? That would be even more disturbing.
Regarding "rumors," I think when you are in a position of authority, whether it be coach, VP, or CEO, you cannot dismiss them as such. You have an obligation to investigate. And I think that this is where Berkoff (and the rest) went wrong, that he knew of these rumors of Curl -- enough to try to make policy changes -- but didn't make steps to remove him from the sport entirely.
This is actually what I'm trying to verify for my own understanding. Can I get an affirmation on that?
Anon said she was 19 when she made the complaint.
I believe that USA Swimming still to this day does not care about abuse done to young adults. I think that once an athlete turns 18 years old they are fair game and USA Swimming has no sympathy or concern and condones abusive behavior to these teens. The attitude is still "you don't like it, go somewhere else".
The coach was sexually harassing a young adult and it was a red flag, a scarlet red flag, and this guy should have been questioned and checked out.
Guess what, turns out he was a monster who was never BG checked by USA Swimming.
And let me add one more thing... When the exec director, Chuck Wielgus, got the letter. He knew it was red-hot and that is why he ordered an attorney to keep it quiet.
He actually ordered to keep it quiet. This was not a questionable policy point, this was a duck and cover-up.
I was in my early thirties when I wrote the complaint. The incident occurred when I was 19. But he had been my junior college coach from ages 17-19. This occurred during his regular age group club practice with some very young teenagers there.
I don't feel like describing it. Totally humiliating.
Otherwise, yes, this seems to be correct.
Anonymous at 5:33 PM
You are also one of the unsung heroes. I respect you so much
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