A 57-year-old official with an Australian swimming club plead guilty this week to indecent treatment of a child, among other things, after making inappropriate advances on a 15-year-old swimmer, the Courier-Mail reports.
Frederick Roland Goddard served in a management position with a club in Brisbane, and reportedly sent multiple illicit text messages to the young swimmer, shared many Skype calls with her and even kissed her and touched her inappropriately over a period of at least a few months in 2012.
You can read the full Courier-Mail report here, but be warned that it is much more descriptive and explicit than we will be in the specifics of the harassment.
In July 2012, the girl’s parents apparently found a romantic poem written by Goddard for the swimmer, and complained to Swimming Australia. The national federation then started investigating the situation and told Goddard not to have any contact with the girl.
Goddard has been sentenced to four months in jail, according to the Courier-Mail report.
What I’m perplexed about Gina is your disgust in this sick “so and so” but then you have this unequivocal support for Mr King!
Mr King was removed from Penn for having relations with a swimmer – he has come back to Aust on a dodgy resume and allowed to coach children where he systematically abused children as young as 10 years of age.
We do agree on one thing though Gina – why on earth would a parent complain to Swimming Australia – as far as I’m concerend the Management of Swimming Australia should think about a merge with Guide Dogs Australia as they seem to be turning a blind eye to alot of things lately.
Swimming… Read more »
I have thought about this all:day & reread theCourier article . Yes this is the same man & he spoke to me about getting sponsors to take girls away to the various open water swims in thePacific . ( do not Google these words as I did about 2 years ago because a pornographic site appeared) . Looking back he was on the defensive & mentioned his club associations & his wife’s plus his daughter ( who I think was there ) . I did ask a few questions as I could not figure out the deal.
I note again that the parents did not go to thepolice but to Swimming Australia with their concerns in 2011. In doing so… Read more »
Good riddance, Gina
I cannot state with ANY certainty that this is the same man but I did come across a team of girls swimming an open waterevent outside of Australia Australia under an unofficial QLD banner ( date Of which I do know but for relevance sake between 2008-2011) .
I first met them at 5 am in the hotel & spoke to the team organiser whose line seems to fit into the above operating style . I can’t remember if I met up with them later but from the number of facts I recall , I must have.
If nothing happened on that trip ( & thisis purely co incidence ) then I can easily see the method by which further… Read more »
It was the same man – and he took a team for several years to that event. I was one of them but only went for one trip, but ran in to him several times over a few years. I always kept my distance from him whenever I could – I found him very full on and creepy. I used to get the boys to sit around me on the plane as [this man] was persistent about having to sit next to me. Nothing happened – I was pretty clued on that he was up to no good.
Should be away for longer than 4 months in my opinion. He will be out roaming the streets again now.