San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif.Photo:Paul Sakum/AP Photo
Paul Sakum/AP Photo
Scott Shaw, the former San Jose State University sports medicine director who for years denied he had sexually abused women athletes during physical therapy sessions, has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of violating their civil rights.
Shaw had faced six misdemeanor counts of abusing his authority in a federal trial that ended in a mistrial earlier this month. Eight former San Jose State athletes testified during the trial, according to USA Today, saying Shaw had reached inside their clothing to touch their breasts, buttocks and pelvic areas and never explained a medical reason for doing so and never asked for consent.
San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif.Paul Sakuma/AP Photo
Paul Sakuma/AP Photo
Caitlin Macky, a former San Jose State swimmer who accused Shaw of abuse, said the mistrial left her enraged and feeling “a hopelessness in humanity.”
Instead of a retrial, prosecutors offered Shaw the chance to plead guilty to two of the charges in exchange for dropping the others,USA Todayreported.
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When Shaw agreed and pleaded guilty to the two counts less than two weeks after denying the athletes’ accusations during the mistrial, Macky toldThe San Jose Mercury Newsit was “maddening.”“It’s a little bit maddening to go through a whole trial, and 12 years of this person vehemently denying everything, then all of a sudden he shows up and admits to that,” Macky told the newspaper.
“Scott Shaw abused his position of trust and authority as a public university official to sexually assault female student-athletes who entrusted him with their medical care,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “No student-athlete should ever be subject to sexual harassment at the hands of their sports medicine director, coach or any other official at a college or university.”
source: people.com
