Coach denies ex-US gymnast’s claims she HAD to give him oral sex twice-a-day
THE first American woman to win a world championship in gymnastics alleges she was pressured into oral sex by her coach up to twice a day in order to make the squad.
The accused, Richard Carlson, has denied the allegations, and taken a case against a USA Gymnastics determination that he had an inappropriate relationship with Frederick.
Marcia Frederick of the United States performs during the Women’s Floor exercise event on 25th October 1978
Marcia Frederick was only 15 when she made history, taking out the gold in the uneven bars at the 1978 World Championships in Strasbourg, France.
It was there that her then-coach was dismissed under allegations of sexual misconduct, only for her to be paired with Carlson, then 25, who she claims forced her into sexual relations over the course of three years.
Now 55, she first made allegations of grooming in 2015.
Carlson has denied the allegations, and pointed out her testimony states she was never physically forced into anything.
Marcia Frederick, the first US gymnast to win a world title claims she was forced to perform oral sex on her coach
It was this complaint that revealed details of the investigation into Frederick’s claims.
Frederick said she came forward after learning Carlson was still involved in the sport back in 2015. She had thought he left gymnastics after the 1980 Olympic Games boycott.
It began, court documents seen by the Daily Mail claim, when she was instructed to rub her coach’s genitals over his pants.
By the 1979 World Championship she claims it had reached a point where she was ordered by Carlson to perform oral sex two hours before and then two hours after competing at the event.
Frederick gave up the sport shortly after the boycotted 1980’s Olympic
Frederick told investigators that early on Carlson would complement her chap stick and later her looks.
Carlson soon moved into the residence where the girls lived along with his wife, and began to request private time working with Frederick.
It was in early 1979 that Carlson allegedly began ordering his student to perform sex acts.
It soon escalated into her coach sneaking up a fire escape while his wife was asleep to demand oral sex.
The report reads: “She stated that the first time it happened they were alone together in the common area of the dorm and Richie put her hand on his crotch and had her rub his crotch and she pulled her hand away and that was it.”
A naïve Frederick had heard many coaches married their gymnasts, and reportedly believed this was what was behind the behaviour.
Details of the alleged assault are now being revealed in a lawsuit Carlson, pictured, has filed against USA Gymnastics
At the time, Frederick said that another coach, Rick Wagner, was involved in a physical relationship with a student and the gym’s owner, Muriel Growled, had married her coach.
The touching only stopped when she alleged she was ordered to orally pleasure her coach.
The first time occurred in the living room, in the doorway to the kitchen, the report suggests.
Frederick apparently didn’t remember how she got to her knees, but believed that Carlson took his hands and gently put her there.
Marcia Frederick first brought her allegations in 2015
“She was on her knees; he took out his penis and put it in her mouth. She said she did not know what to do.”
It was soon to became a daily or even twice-daily occurrence, and continued for two years.
The report said: “So every time he wanted it, he got it, but she refused to swallow so he would ejaculate on her face and chest.”
“Ms. Frederick said that he usually had a smirk on his face or had his head back and his eyes closed.”
He would also make her perform oral sex while he drove the team van, Frederick alleges, while her peers were asleep in the backseats.
The report reads: “Ms. Frederick stated that she did not like it, that it was just something that she had to do to get to the Olympics.”
Some time after her world cup triumph at another event Frederick had a bad qualifier, and was forced to work out strenuously by her coach as punishment.
Marcia Frederick, now 55, had just turned 15 when she claims that coach Richard Carlson, then 25, began to demand oral sex
Then, when another girl failed to turn up, Frederick claimed she had to fill her space, tired from her work out and only shortly after another bout of oral sex.
She was only 16, and the report reads: “she competed, had one of the best competitions of the day, and Ms. Frederick said she thought it was because she just did not care anymore.”
She still kept the abuse secret, fearing her spot on the Olympic team still sat in the balance.
In the end it was the 1980 US boycott of the Moscow Games in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that cost her a chance to compete.
The day she found out about the boycott, she told her story for the first time.
The gym owner did not believe her story, the report says, and seemed most concerned with whether it had happened in the gym or not.
Frederick then told her father, who in turn “looked at her with disgust and they have been estranged ever since”.
Her mother was indifferent, according to the report.
In the end Frederick was never able to compete at the Olympics
None of the five people she told contacted police.
Carlson was fired but then hired back, and Frederick says she decided to exact revenge by seducing him and making sure his wife caught the two.
Frederick said she lost her virginity to the man.
The report reads: “She relayed that she was watching the clock and when Lynn came in she had a look on her face of such betrayal and devastation.”
The couple divorced and in 1982 Frederick retired from the sport, not wanting to train two additional years for the Olympics.
A three-person panel from USA Gymnastics heard arguments in the case earlier this year and announced in June that Carlson was banned from the sport for life.
He appeared the next day in front of the Senate to answer questions about the Larry Nassar scandal.
Carlson denied sleeping with Frederick when she was 17, when she would have been a year older than the age of consent in Connecticut at the time.
His ex-wife supported the claim in court by stating she never once walked in on him having sex with Frederick.
Carlson argues Frederick was at an age to legally consent at the time of the intercourse, and pointed out her testimony highlights that she was never physically forced into performing sex acts.
He also argued that the statute of limitations decrees that allegations for the alleged offences needed to be made within a year, not 33 years after.
His complain reads: “Petitioner, Richard Carlson, denies that any inappropriate sexual contact took place between himself and Mrs. Frederic.”
“And that even if sexual contact took place as alleged by Mrs. Frederick such was not against the law or in violation of any policy, rule or code of conduct in place in 1979-1980 which forbid consensual contact between a coach and an athlete.”
Carlson is asking for the ruling of the three person panel to be annulled, that he be reimbursed for the costs associated, and for a court to decide if greater reimbursements should be given.
