Civil Complaint Filed Against USA Swimming, Sun Devil, et al. in Greg Winslow Allegations

by Ceci Christy 5

August 23rd, 2013 National, News

As we reported earlier, Greg Winslow cannot be prosecuted in Arizona for the alleged sexual abuse he inflicted upon one of his age group swimmers when coaching at Sun Devil Aquatics from 2005 to 2008.  Arizona state civil law, however, does not preclude his purported victim from suing him for monetary damages.  She filed such a lawsuit in the Maricopa County Superior Court on June 27 against Mr. Winslow.

See the original complaint here.

Not only did she file this suit against Mr. Winslow, but she also named USA Swimming as the national governing body for swimming, Sun Devil Aquatics as the employer of Mr. Winslow, Michael Chasson as the president and head coach of Sun Devil, Mrs. Winslow and Jill Chasson as the spouses of Mr. Winslow and Mr. Chasson, and Arizona State Swimming as the governing agency for Arizona swimming.

This lawsuit seeks general and special damages for an unspecified amount against all the defendants.  While the allegations in the complaint are extensive, the essence of the complaint against Mr. Winslow centers on his sexual assault and battery of the plaintiff that intentionally and negligently caused emotional harm to her.  In committing this abuse, Mr. Winslow also breached the coach/swimmer fiduciary relationship.  The other counts in the complaint address the other defendants’ negligence in hiring Mr. Winslow, negligent failure to properly train and supervise him, negligent failure to enforce policies that would prevent such conduct, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, and negligent failure to control Mr. Winslow’s sexual and inappropriate misconduct.

The victim’s attorney, Lincoln Combs, had no comment regarding the lawsuit at this time.  Through our record search, we learned that the complaint has not yet been served on any of the parties.  Under Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, the plaintiff has 120 days from the day after filing the lawsuit (June 28) to serve the complaint upon the defendants.  In this case that date will be October 25.

While the timing may be purely coincidental, in early July the defendant Jill Chasson resigned from her service as Chairman of the National Board of Review for USA Swimming.  She cited the desire to focus on her family and her law practice as the reason for her decision to step down.

We contacted each defendant seeking a response to the filing of this lawsuit.  As of this time we received a response only from USA Swimming: “USA Swimming is aware of the complaint but has not been served with a lawsuit.”

At the time of the alleged incidents described in the complaint, Mr. Winslow was, and continues to be, a coach member of USA Swimming. We asked the Office of Safe Sport about whether USA Swimming was conducting an investigation into Mr. Winslow’s alleged sexual abuse of the plaintiff.  USA Swimming appropriately replied, “USA Swimming is unable to comment on any on-going investigation.”

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FanofChristy
10 years ago

Caroline, I agree with your enthusiasm to rid child activities of bad people, but your terminology and stats are a little off.

First, assuming the complaint against Winslow is true, he’s not technically a pedophile. The alleged victim was between 15 and 18 at the time. According to Wikipedia, “Pedophilia is used for individuals with a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children aged 13 or younger.” Thus, pedophile is not the proper term to use in Winslow’s case.

Again, assuming the charges are true, Winslow is more likely an Ephebophile. From Wikipedia: “Ephebophilia is the primary or exclusive adult sexual interest in mid-to-late adolescents, generally ages 15 to 19. Ephebophilia strictly denotes the preference for mid-to-late adolescent sexual… Read more »

cindyswim81
10 years ago

Very brave young woman….. <3

carolineredbrook
10 years ago

Accused pedophiles like Coach Winslow, Sylvain Kustyan, Jerry Sandusky, etc. AND their enablers must be caught before these predators continue to abuse our innocent children for decades. Their enablers must be held as responsible as the perpetrators themselves. Kudos to this young lady who is also suing Winslow’s enablers! Sylvain Kustyan, who has been officially charged with two counts each of 1st Degree Sodomy and Sexual Abuse of a ten-year-old little boy, unfortunately, fled to avoid imminent arrest. This former resident of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Hermin/Mazingarbe, France is now a fugitive from the law. Since the average pedophile has 300 different victims in their lifetime and since the recidivism rate among pedophiles is virtually 100% they must be stopped ASAP!

Interested
10 years ago

Are you guys blocking comments?

Admin
Reply to  Interested
10 years ago

Interested – no.

About Ceci Christy

Ceci Christy is the mother of two teenage daughters and has held the proud title of swim mom for nine years. She volunteers extensively at her daughters' swim club in Atlanta. While being a mother is her most rewarding job, Ceci also serves as a pro bono child advocate in …

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