3 female taekwondo Olympic hopefuls have suffered abuse of the hands of their taekwondo coach Marc Gitelman.
The award comes amid sex-abuse scandals among amateur competitions for girls and women, including allegations that a USA Gymnastics doctor molested girls.
“We want to shine a light on this issue because it’s not unique to taekwondo. It’s across the spectrum of all Olympic sports,” said attorney Stephen Estey. “You want to put the shame back where it belongs. It doesn’t belong with the sex abuse victim.”
The 3 victims were all minors at the time crime ocurred.
Brown and Bordon said Gitelman they assaulted them in Olympic Training Center dorms.
Gitelman has since been sentenced to 4 years in prison for multiple felony counts, including lewd acts upon a child, lewd acts upon a child, oral copulation of a minor, and unlawful sexual intercourse.
Gitelman abused the girls from 2007 to 2014, often after giving them alcohol in hotel rooms while traveling to competitions, according to the lawsuit.
The abuse hampered Brown’s ability to compete, Estey said. Before contests, she would remember it, and throw up.
The 3 survivors were awarded 60 million dollars. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge last week awarded the judgment against Marc Gitelman –a top ranked Las Vegas teacher known as “Master G” — after the former coach failed to respond adequately to the lawsuit and was found in default.
