A former Carmel High School swimmer is suing the school district, Carmel’s head swim coach and the Red Roof Inn over sexual abuse she experienced at the hands of former coach John Goelz.
The Indy Star reports that the 18-year-old woman is suing Carmel Clay Schools, head swimming coach Chris Plumb and the Red Roof Inn, claiming all three failed to protect her from sexual abuse by Goelz. The lawsuit says that the school district has a history of tolerating sexual relationships between employees and minor students. The suit also says the Red Roof Inn didn’t properly train its staff to prevent sexual crimes on its property.
Last year, Goelz admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old swimmer in 2017 and 2018. Goelz was a swim coach for Carmel High School and Carmel Swim Club at the time. Goelz also filmed a sexual encounter with the girl, and that video was found by authorities during their investigation. Goelz was sentenced to about 16 years in prison plus 10 years of supervised release, along with a $9000 fine.
He’s also been banned for life by the U.S. Center for SafeSport.
The school district and the Red Roof Inn declined to comment on the case when asked by The Indy Star. We’ve asked Plumb for comment but have not yet received a response.
Does CSC stand for Coverup Sex Crimes? Coaches and swim club board members involved in this case need to be put on leave during the pending legal proceedings. I hope no cover ups happened and I hope no one in leadership positions were aware and had any knowledge that this coach/swimmer relationship was occurring and they did nothing to report and prevent it. Any type of settlement will presumed as an admission of guilt. This will get ugly for all involved but I hope the truth comes out as to what the coaches. swim club board and school administration knew and what they did not know. SafeSport are you watching!
So she has a sexual relationship with the coach in 2017-18 . There are videos . Now she has him imprisoned & now wants millions . Ok .
And all other reports of these occurrences between the coach and swimmer have been listed as “consensual” up until they decide to sue and attempt to get some $$$$$.
Some of the comments are here are ridiculous! Clearly coaches still believe it’s ok the have sex with their athletes, and the fact that their are people making comments blaming the victim, and saying that she just wants money now, and that the parents and attorneys turned this into a money making endeavor blows my mind. Coaches are in a position of power and trust. Stop blaming victims, and attorneys- this young lady will need psychological help, and deserves to be compensated for the endless amounts of money she’ll have to spend to become whole again.
Here’s a great article to read-
https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/indiana-high-school-swim-coach-sentenced-nearly-17-years-federal-prison-sexually
downvote for ICE release? what kind of crazy is this?
Why does it seem a lot of this stuff happens in Indiana? Coincidence? Need to get Ken Stopkotte out of prison and clean up that state.
Can someone explain how the Red Roof Inn is involved?
Many hotels train their employees to spot and report human trafficking and abuse. I am sure Red Roof Inn has a training program and reporting protocol. It may be that this hotel failed to follow the protocol or training.
This link should help explain it: https://swimswam.com/former-swimmer-suing-carmel-high-school-red-roof-inn-over-sexual-abuse/
CSC. The “gold standard” for swim clubs. While the culprit was jailed and fined now the entitled go for the money grab.
I feel terrible for this young lady but this is the parents and lawyers clearly
That is a horrible way to think. This young athlete was hurt in a way most people will never know and should never know. To say that she is money grabbing and entitled is just despicable
No. Its a money grab. None of these people were responsible. Because you were hurt by Person A, does make anyone and everyone else responsible for that or your choices.
Your ignorance is disgusting. Entitled? This family trusted an organization to protect a young female and they failed. The coach made an awful decision and now needs to be stripped of his ability to live comfortably. The female swimmer will need to overcome this mistrust and the legal system will decide the financial burden the coach has created for the family.
The issue is she’s not suing the perpetrator but people who may or may not have been aware of the situation. Whether they should’ve known is up to the courts.
I’m concerned that this broadening circle of blame in general discourages people from coaching, teaching and mentoring our youth in an age when it’s desperately needed.
And a park ! Did she forget to sue the County or Trust that owns the park?
Yeah. Because victims of abuse should never be compensated or hold those who did nothing accountable. Very sad, Bob.
compensation vs. accountability. it’s about the latter.
Exactly why my daughter has never, and will never, travel to a meet without one of her parent.
My club coach when I was in high school just got popped for something he did at a swim meet with another swimmer.
Well hopefully your daughter also won’t walk out your front door and get into a car with someone and drive away to a hotel because that is what happened here. She was not snatched from her bed during a travel meet. I’m certainly not saying that there was not a victim here but I also Don’t want a picture painted of Carmel swim club that simply is not accurate.
Hopefully when the coaching staff knows what is going on, they won’t ignore it.
Grooming is a very serious issue. Your comment is incentive and leads one to believe you’re not willing to look beyond the exterior of the situation.
Well that can be interpreted in more than one way..the exterior of the situation is a “minor”” (17) was “savagely raped” (had sex with her coach at his house, a hotel, and a local park) as was stated in the Indy Star newspaper. And she’s accusing Carmel High School, the well respected Head coach and The Red Roof Inn For failing to protect her. Yes. In fact I AM willing to look beyond THAT exterior. Goelz broke the law. He is paying the penalty. It should end with Goelz. Trying to punish others to this degree is irresponsible in my opinion.
Should it end with Goelz? That depends greatly on who knew what and what they did about it. And if procedures were in place to protect kids. All of your quotation marks and comments certainly make is sound like you don’t believe the victim was a victim even though it sounds like the coach has admitted he had sex with a student.
Agree. A lot we still don’t know. But a lot we do know. We do know that this was a 9 month relationship of text messages and meetings for sex. We do know Goelz broke the law by having this relationship and for that he is getting the punishment he deserves. Do I believe anyone at Carmel high school or any of the coaches knew about this relationship? No way.
The IndyStar article states that the girl now claims high school swim coach Chris Plumb failed to protect her from being “savagely and repeatedly raped and sodomized” by Goelz. This is libel and completely different than what the girl stated to the Indiana Department of Child Services during her interview on 7/2/2018. Goelz was thoroughly investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Hamilton County Metro Child Exploitation Task Force. Had these investigations yielded even a hint of a rape, U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler would have charged Goelz with this and sought an even longer prison sentence. To throw around an allegation of rape when one did not occur does a great disservice to those that have been subject to such… Read more »
@concerned for truth. I’d like this a million times if I could. THIS!!! Thank you!