Sarah Ehekircher, a former swimmer who alleges she was sexually abused by former coach Scott MacFarland in the 1980s, has filed a civil lawsuit against USA Swimming, MacFarland and others in Colorado District Court.
Ehekircher initially filed the lawsuit against MacFarland and USA Swimming in the state of California in 2020, where the alleged initial incident occurred, but has moved to Colorado, where USA Swimming is based.
The complaint in Colorado was filed in December 2022, and MacFarland was served in court on Wednesday, with an answer due by September 11, 2023.
Ehekircher claims sexual battery of a minor, negligence, infliction of emotional distress and violation of forced labor laws against MacFarland, USA Swimming, the Mission Aurora Colorado Swim Team, Colorado Swimming Inc., and the Cherry Creek School District. The lawsuit claims they “all actively abused and/or failed to act to protect Sarah.”
The lawsuit alleges that MacFarland took advantage of Ehekircher’s vulnerable state and “groomed and emotionally abused her for his own sexual gratification.”
MacFarland coached Ehekircher while she was swimming for the Mission Viejo Conquistadores, a Colorado-based club that has since been renamed the Mission Aurora Colorado Swim Team.
According to the suit, MacFarland was recruited by Mark Schubert, the coach of the Mission Viejo Nadadores in California, to coach the Colorado extension of the program.
Ehekircher’s mother died when she was 13, and the suit says that her alcoholic father kicked her out of the house while she was still a minor. She then moved in with MacFarland while she was a minor with the full knowledge of the Cherry Creek School District, the suit alleges.
MacFarland allegedly raped Ehekircher for the first time in the summer of 1986 at a swim meet in Irvine, California when she was 17. The age of consent in California was and still is 18.
Ehekircher claims the two had sex multiple times in various states in the summer of 1986 prior to her 18th birthday.
The suit alleges that Cherry Creek Schools were aware that Ehekircher was living with MacFarland while she was a student at Smoky Hill High School in Aurora and “took no steps to verify if Scott MacFarland was indeed Sarah’s guardian.”
“In reality, Coach MacFarland was not Sarah’s ‘guardian;’ he was her rapist and abuser,” the suit says.
Ehekircher’s attorney, Jonathan Little, said MacFarland was just one of many USA Swimming coaches who sexually abused their athletes.
“When you’re 30 or 40 years old and you’re dating the athlete you coach, that’s just reflecting the culture you were brought up in,” Little said, according to KRDO. “Scott MacFarland is one of many coaches who have had sex with children who have not been banned by United States Swimming.”
In 2018, Ehekircher came forward with claims that MacFarland sexually abused her when she was a teenager. She said the relationship turned sexual when she was 17 and he was 34 while the two were on a trip to a swim meet in Irvine. Ehekircher said the sexual relationship continued, and that MacFarland impregnated her twice, both ending in abortions. She left the swim team at the University of Arkansas after the first abortion.
Ehekircher also filed a complaint against MacFarland in 2010, but USA Swimming’s national board of review process didn’t find enough evidence to punish or ban MacFarland. When Ehekircher went public with her claims in 2018, MacFarland was still coaching the Magnolia Aquatic Club in Texas, though he retired from coaching after her claims were widely reported.
Wondering if she plans to sue the school district as well.
Is the Father dead or in prison? I would like to know if he was/is being brought up on charges for child abandonment. A lot of these issues will resolve when parents are held responsible.
“A lot of these issues will resolve when parents are held responsible”? Why do grown men get a pass for raping teenagers they’re in a position of authority over? What about teenagers whose parents are dead, incarcerated, absent, or abusive themselves? Do they deserved to be raped by grown men? Do only teenagers from healthy homes deserve to participate in sports without being coerced for sex by adult men in charge of them? It’s teens whose parents aren’t available to protect them who are most vulnerable to sexual abuse and predatory coaches know that.
The only person responsible for raping a minor is the person who raped the minor.
Two entirely separate matters. Family matters is one issue; but it does not excuse the alleged grooming and sick behavior of the coach.
this is sad