Update: upon confirming conviction, we have reinserted the name of the convicted and banned swimmer.
A 15-year old swimmer from Punta Gorda, Florida named Chase Panem has become the youngest person on the USA Swimming permanently ineligible (aka “banned for life”) list after his appeal period expired last week.
According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s office, the teen was arrested at the South Country Regional Park after being charged with Sexual Battery on a Victim Under 12 Years of Age, and specifically a 6-year old. The victim was attending a summer camp, and after having soiled his pants went into the boys’ restroom. He was then found crawling on the floor from underneath a bathroom stall, where the alleged abuse occured.
“He soiled his pants and a camp counselor took him to the office lobby to wait for his mother to bring clean clothes,” the report read. “The boy got up and went to into the boy’s restroom. A camp counselor went to the boy’s bathroom to check on the boy and found the victim crawling on the floor from the handicap stall. The boy said a boy called him over to the other stall where the sexual acts were committed.”
Update: The Southwest Florida State Attorney’s office confirmed that the 15-year old has been incarcerated in a high risk juvenile facility designed specifically for juvenile sex offenders located in Southwest Florida, though no information was available on the length of his incarceration.
Panem was a member of the club Charlotte County Swimming, just north of Fort Meyers. The specific reason for banishment under the code of conduct was rule 304.3.6, which reads as follows:
304.3.6 Conviction of, imposition of a deferred sentence for, or any plea of guilty or no contest at any time, past or present, or the existence of any pending charges, for (i) any felony, (ii) any offense involving use, possession, distribution or intent to distribute illegal drugs or substances, (iii) any crime involving sexual misconduct, or (iv) any criminal offense against a minor.
As far as we can tell, this is the first instance of an active junior-level swimmer being banned under the organizations new policies for a violation of the code of conduct.
this whole report weirds me out– I dont see need to print even the 15 yr old’s name– do you have any idea what has probably been done to a 15 yr old to turn him into a sex offender??? If he is on record as a sex offender and he has been banned for life, I doubt it is important for US to know his name, right now. And I highly doubt swimming is in his future anyway. If he is incarcerated there is no need for all of this. What’s important is he was convicted if guilty and that he is officially banned. Now I know some of you will begin screaming because you disagree but I dont… Read more »
Tragic. What is it with Florida and sickos, seriously?
It’s permanEntly, by the way.
Google – Chase Panem registered sex offender – all of the information is there – Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Re the editor note in italics above: “Edit: Because of the age of the accused, we have chosen to remove his name.” A person is ‘accused’ pending their day in court. The offender in this case was found to be guilty of sexually abusing a child, he was convicted, he is incarcerated and he is a registered sex offender. Using the language accused insinuates that innocence or guilt remains to be seen. The offender has been found to be guilty. It is important to use correct language and it is important to the victim that there is no doubt about who is responsible for the terrible things that happened to him.
We have not seen any such guilty verdict. If you have such, please email it to me at braden@SwimSwam.com.
Did you actually contact the Charlotte County Sherrif’s office as you insinuate that you did in the article or did you google the name of the offender and use the information from the local articles written about the incident?
The office of the State’s Attorney put out a press release about the conviction. http://sao.cjis20.org/2011.html
eric – as was referenced in the article, we were directed to the Sherrif’s office press release. I did not see any “local articles” written about the incident.
There was no information about this case that I saw in your link. If you, SB, or anyone else at the USA Swimming office has more information, would love for you to send it to me.
~Braden
Seems to me a 6 year old who is still soiling their pants has already big problems. I believe no non related adult ought have to clean that stuff up .
A big mess all around.
Victim blaming is not cool.
People of ALL ages have accidents!!! Anybody who agrees to watch a child SHOULD treat that child like they would want to be treated or like they would want their child treated. Provisions should be made that all children have a change of clothes AND the establishment should have a few emergency pieces. There is NO excuse to have a child sit in a lobby in soiled clothes. If people do not want to help a child in need, they should not take the job!!!
To make a statement that the 6 year old already had big problems is IGNORANT!!!
Plenty of 6-12 yr olds have accidents. Geez.
“Soiled’ is not just peeing. It is number 2 & occurs because of several factors – sickness (diarreah) being one -but the article does not suggest that. That would be a public health risk in a pool environment.
If you guys think that kid is aok then that is your prerogative but it does not outweigh my contention that he has problems.
I don’t like that you reprinted all the gory details of the incident and the gender/age of the victim. Since the club/perp are not anonymous, the victim is more easily known locally, and I’m more concerned about the victim’s privacy and dignity.
This story is so tragic. Why don’t people understand the dangers of having little kids go into restrooms/locker rooms unaccompanied.
At a age group meet in Los Angeles, people were being screamed at by a meet administrator to stay out of a wading pool during a record heat wave. People were told to go cool off in the locker rooms. Dozens of kids, at any given time, were sitting in the showers (water running). The inhumane treatment prompted a parent to send e-mails to the LSC and the Mayor expressing concern over little kids and parents of the opposite sex being separated. The safest place for all was the 0″-24″ wading pool which was guarded by at least 4 lifeguards.… Read more »
He’s a registered sex offender so he is not anonymous to begin with.