Colorado: Decorated Paralympic Swimmer Robert Griswold Allegedly Raped and Abused Teammate, Says Lawsuit

On Friday, a federal court in Colorado filed a case by a paralympic swimmer with autism who said that Robert Griswold "maliciously groomed" him for a year before raping and torturing him.

The 63-page lawsuit said that Paralympic gold medalist Griswold sexually abused Parker Egbert, now 19 years old when they were both competing for the U.S. at the Tokyo Paralympics in August 2021.

According to 9News, The lawsuit says that Griswold groomed Egbert, who has intellectual disabilities, and called him his "little buddy."

The lawsuit also said that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the U.S. Center for SafeSport covered up the abuse because Griswold is a champion swimmer, and his family is very involved in the swimming community.

On August 23, the U.S. Center for Safesport put Griswold on temporary suspension because of "allegations of misconduct."

Safesport keeps a public discipline database so that people can find out about rules and open inquiries.

USOPC Appointed Robert Griswold as Parker Egbert's Supervisor, Says Lawsuit

Even though Griswold lacked credentials and the two were "peer team members," the USOPC allegedly nominated him as Egbert's supervisor.

Griswold, who has cerebral palsy, broke a world record by winning two gold medals at the 2020 Paralympic Games, which were held in 2021 after being postponed due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, according to the lawsuit, the Paralympics were a dream come true for Egbert, who did not begin speaking until he was six.

At the age of 12, his mother Laura started him swimming, where he finally excelled and won the title of national Paralympic champion.

The lawsuit alleged that Griswold and Egbert were put in the same room in Tokyo despite USOPC and SafeSport being aware of reports that Griswold had sexually abused other teammates.

The lawsuit claimed they shared a bathroom and sat close to one another on the team bus, per The Denver Gazzete.

An independent non-profit organization called SafeSport, with its headquarters in Denver, handles claims of sexual abuse of amateur athletes and minors in Olympic sports.

The USOPC, a federally recognized non-profit organization, based in Colorado Springs, is in charge of organizing, sponsoring, and preparing American teams for competitions like the Olympics and Paralympics.

Egbert's attorneys informed The Denver Gazette that the Egbert family does not provide interviews.

An inquiry for comment from Griswold has received no response.

The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Releases a Statement Regarding Lawsuit

In response to the lawsuit, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee issued the following statement on Friday:

"The allegations brought forth by the complaint filed today are extremely concerning, and we take them very seriously."

The statement said that the committee have decided to put two staff members on administrative leave and to stop working with many contractors on the U.S. Paralympic Swimming program.

It also said that it would continue its investigations into the allegations to know the facts, and they are committed to taking the right action, WSPA noted.

Additionally, the lawsuit claims that the USOPC ignored the problems, insulted the Plaintiff's parents and that the teammate "presented virtually no risk to Plaintiff."

Furthermore, it claims that the USOPC and SafeSport protected paralympic swimmer Robert Griswold and failed to let Plaintiff's parents know about earlier accusations against the teammate.

According to the lawsuit, Robert Griswold used his position in the Olympic and Paralympic Swimming community to seek out and groom defenseless athletes, mainly minor and disabled Paralympic athletes residing and training at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

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