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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 10, 2024
ARBITRATION PANEL FINDS THAT SAFESPORT MAY VIOLATE OLYMPIC LAW
In a first-of-its-kind case, a panel of three arbitrators has decided that the process used by the US Center for SafeSport (CSS) likely violates the rights of Olympic Movement participants under the Ted Stevens Amateur and Olympic Sports Act. A group of equestrians challenged the process alleging that the United States Equestrian Federation had violated the Sports Act when it imposed the decisions by the Center. As a result, the equestrians contended, that the Federation was no longer eligible to serve as the National Governing Body for Equestrian Sport. Issued on December 27, 2023, the complete written determination is waiting for public posting by the USOPC.
The equestrians were represented by Tamara Tucker of Charlottesville, Virginia, Michael Romm of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and Steve Silvey of Chicago, IL.
Ms. Tucker filed the first non-compliance complaint for lead claimant, James Giorgio, in August 2019. Additional claimants were represented by Mr. Romm. Mr. Silvey joined the case prior to the arbitration trial.
Ms. Tucker explained, “Mr. Giorgio’s first contact with the Center for SafeSport was a letter out of the blue permanently banning him. He did not receive any notice that he was under investigation prior to that. But even when notice is properly given, the process still violates the Sports Act because you only get a hearing after a final sanction is imposed, and then in order to get the hearing, you have to pay close to $6,000.00. That is just wrong.”
Mr. Romm added, “our position was that not only does the Center’s process violate the Sports Act, it violates the IOC Charter and jeopardizes the standing of US athletes to participate in the Olympics. There is no reason for the Center to operate this way when the right of athletes to get a hearing before being declared ineligible has been part of the Olympic Movement for over 50 years.”
The arbitration panel leveled harsh criticism at the USOPC, the USEF, and the Center for SafeSport:
“For nearly ten years, Respondent and the USOPC have failed to take the steps necessary to address the conflict between the due process rights provided by the CSS/SafeSport Code and the PDH right identified in Section 220522(a)(8) and potentially Section
22054l(a)(l)(H)of the Ted Stevens Act. This case only scratched the surface regarding the reasons why Respondent and the USOPC agreed to remove the longstanding right that an accused Olympic participant was afforded a pre-determination hearing (PDH) under Section 220522(a)(8) when the SafeSport system was implemented after the Dr. Larry Nasser scandal in women's gymnastics. The limited evidence presented appears to indicate that the USOPC was either directly responsible or complicit in eliminating this pre- determination hearing right when the SafeSport system was created. Whether proper or not, the longstanding right that an accused Olympic participant was afforded a pre-determination hearing under Section 220522(a)(8) was eliminated when the SafeSport system was created by the USOPC.”
“The CSS only doubled down on this pre-determination hearing issue in 2018 when it assumed full control and responsibility for all cases involving sexual misconduct or abuse in sport. To add to the problem, CSS also used its exclusive authority to create SafeSport Rules that prevented an accused Olympic participant from legally challenging its adjudication procedure allowing CSS to issue final decisions against an accused Olympic participant before ever providing a· pre-determination hearing.”
“The issue is whether Claimants could prevail in federal court regarding the legal conflict between the rules and procedures of CSS and the SafeSport Code and the conflicting due process protection identified in Section 220522(a)(8) and other sections of the Ted Stevens Act. As discussed in the analysis above, Claimants clearly have a valid procedural due process claim to adjudicate and this Panel agrees that Claimants could prevail when this conflict of law issue is eventually addressed in federal court.”
“The USOPC and CSS efforts to diminish or minimize this right to procedural due process has been set up for a rebuke by a federal court since the passage and implementation of the original version of the SafeSport Code in 2017 ... In the meantime, hundreds of accused Olympic participants may continue to be inappropriately deprived of a legal right to a PDH in their cases.” Ms. Tucker and Mr. Romm confirmed that the equestrians intend to pursue this case further in federal court and with the IOC.
Famously, The wheels of justice turn slowly.
The federal court has re-scheduled the hearing for March 9 after receiving the revelations about the undisclosed, unexplained $10,000.00 payment from SafeSport to the arbitrator.
We’ll keep you posted
The abuse of power continues @ Safesport.
After the already traumatic conclusion of my arbitration, an unexpected & unexplained & seemingly retroactive, bill for over $10,000.00 from JAMS was sent to me via my attorney Howard Jacobs. I had already paid in full, and always in advance as required by the system, for every portion of the Safe Sport & arbitration proceedings. Every single step of the way, since receiving the very first email from Safe Sport on Sept 8, 2021, I have paid extensive bills in what turns out to be the mistaken belief that I could defend myself. I alone have sustained the financial burden of this entire proceeding. The “ claimants” who have the ability to ruin so many people’s lives, businesses & reputations bear no responsibility in any way whatsoever. Their random & false allegations do not need to be verified or validated & absolutely no financial contribution or responsibility is demanded of them. They are literally free to do whatever they want at no cost & with no accountability.
However, until we received the mysterious bill after arbitration had concluded, we believed all our bills were paid. None of our substantial expenses had been a surprise.
When Howard inquired as to the reason for the $10,000.00 bill he was told it was an “error” & to disregard the bill. After thoughtful consideration, Howard Jacobs decided to subpoena documents related to payments made to the arbitrator from the arbitration body JAMS in federal court. Recently, JAMS complied with that subpoena, and the documents it produced show that SafeSport made a secret payment to the arbitrator of over $10,000, which is not authorized by SafeSport’s own SafeSport Code. Howard also subpoenaed communications from JAMS related to that secret payment, but JAMS has refused to produce any of those communications; the refusal to produce communications related to a secret payment by JAMS to the arbitrator of more than $10,000 speaks volumes.
An arbitration award is binding and cannot be contested unless very specific conditions occur.
When we received the decision from my arbitration we were shocked. Not just at the lifetime ban despite claimants being shown to be lying, but also the complete lack of analysis in the arbitration award itself. The secret payment by SafeSport to the arbitrator appears to be the explanation.
I am fortunate to have been able to work with is the best Safesport lawyer in the country. With all of the years of arbitrations Howard Jacobs has been involved in prior to the existence of Safesport and all of the Safesport arbitrations he has been involved in since its inception he has never asked that an arbitration award be vacated based on arbitrator bias ….until now.
From the beginning of this Safesport process I wish I could say I have been treated like a criminal. Criminals have rights and Lawyers have a code of conduct.
This secret payment to the arbitrator, shows how the officials at Safesport feel untouchable around abusing their power and the disregard they have for a Lifetime USEF member who they can snag in their web and will willingly abuse their power to never let the person out.
It is cliche at this point, but it is true that the Safesport process is a Kangaroo Court. A Kangaroo court is a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice , may ignore due process and come to pre- determined conclusions. Tragically, a word perfect description of the Safe Sport process.
When I became a USEF lifetime member over 30 years ago I never signed up for this. When SafeSport interjected itself into the USEF, I’m certain USEF didn’t understand that its membership was going to be subjected to this abuse.
The calamity of this extends far beyond the havoc & devastation wrought in my own life. Innocent people are being collaterally damaged throughout our industry by “Safe” Sport. Our entire industry is vulnerable, no one is “Safe”
The case against Safe Sport in Federal Court is scheduled for Jan 12. I will continue to pour my resources into this fight in the hopes that the illegitimate organization of Safe Sport can be brought under legal scrutiny & oversight before it ruins more innocent lives
Charles White
June 11th 2022
On June 11 I posted the “unambiguous “ results of the lie detector test that I voluntarily undertook that established with complete certainty that I was one hundred percent truthful in all my statements in my efforts @ self defense against false allegations that a group of unhappy women levied against me. A self defense that was incredibly costly in so many ways – emotionally, financially & publicly to name just a few.
I then recounted on this very website the false allegations levied against me by these women & offered to pay for every single one of these woman who had made these untrue claims to take a lie detector test themselves. Obviously, knowing full well that not a single one of them would be able to, since I, and so very many other people,know their accusations are fabricated.Apparently the obvious evidence of these women being disgruntled fired employees, (some that owe us large amounts of money) & customers that were asked to leave the barn fails to cast sufficient doubt upon their efforts @ revenge. Their universal inability to take a lie detector test is further proof that they are lying to the organizations that support them, to the small susceptible group of people that must suspend all reasonable scrutiny to believe them, and to & about each other as well.
The pain of having anyone believe them is an agony beyond words. The love & support that the overwhelming majority of people who are familiar with all parties involved have shown me , almost compensates for the malicious betrayals of these women who all benefited so greatly from their time @ DMS.
The outright abuse they are inflicting upon Macella is absolutely horrifying. Macella is a woman who has embodied honesty & true women’s empowerment every single day of her life. This is a factual statement no one can debate, least of all these woman who Macella has been nothing but kind, generous & supportive of. I will always believe that the shame & humiliation of betraying & deceiving Macella is what has motivated this group of women to attempt to create false narratives that shift the blame off of themselves as they simply do not have the strength of character, tools or support any longer now that they have desecrated their own environments. They are tragically linked not only by their enormous failures, but even more by their inability to take responsibility for their actions & by having many of their close long term friends & even family members refute their revisionist histories & abandon them as friends.
By seizing a cultural moment & weaponizing deeply flawed organizations, these women are not only abusing Macella but also gravely harming the cause & credibility of women, & all efforts @ addressing rebalancing gender relationships.
These postings are meant to provide for the very first time the actual details that have never been revealed and to draw the cloak of anonymity back and give everyone enough information that imaginations can stop running wild.
Charles White
Kelli Cox
October 1st, 2022
Kelli may be the single hardest person to write about. In truth I do not think I have recovered yet from the shock of Kelli’s betrayal & malicious intentions. How many lies Kelli is promoting is haunting to me.
We had Kelli in our will. Kelli was thoroughly enmeshed with Macella’s father & mother.Our entire family encouraged Kelli to go to school when all she wanted to do was ride horses. Macella, always Kelli’s greatest champion, promised her a job if she graduated from college & Kelli was back as soon as she graduated. We saw her through her myriad problems, & supported her every way we could . Macella gave Kelli her favorite car when Kelli moved away to become a CPA . We trusted her to give us financial advice & promoted her to all of our other clients & friends as a financial advisor & CPA. In 2017 I told Kelli we were changing accountants because I was increasingly dissatisfied with Kelli’s services & unable to collaborate with Kelli . Right up until then, Kelli had assiduously visited us, remembered birthdays, brought us Christmas presents & spent holiday time with us and happily take our money.
To discover that Kelli had been harboring resentments & not only had actively attempted to find an attorney willing to sue us ( which none were) over ten years before I made the change in accountants was horrifying and something she herself admitted under oath. Obviously, the quality of her work, as it were, would suffer dramatically with her having such a stunning conflict of interest. Leaving aside her professional failure to execute her most basic fiduciary duty, her personal duplicity is nothing short of stunning to me.
Kelli has been so aggressively pursuing harming us, that she has actively solicited other women to join her in this quest. To the point that one woman says she wished “she had never let Kelli talk her into this”. Adding to her personal & professional malfeasance Kelli utilized her position as our trusted adviser & accountant to inflict as much damage upon us as possible.
The supreme irony of all this is that Kelli is a self avowed women’s empowerment advocate. If in fact, any of Kelli’s allegations were true, then she would been betraying, deceiving & distinctly not empowering a woman in Macella who is an actual model of female empowerment & support. Since in fact, Kelli’s allegations are not true, then she is betraying, deceiving & distinctly not empowering Macella- a woman who literally tried to support & encourage Kelli for over 30 years.
Both her personal & professional misconduct are glaringly evident for all to see & she more than anyone is aware of how many people she has harmed by engineering this assault upon not just me, but all the employees @ DMS who have lost not just their livelihood & but also their homes , all the customers & friends who were so deeply invested with us whose community & joy she has devastated . And, perhaps most astonishingly for someone whose entire website proclaims her staunch support for women & female advancement in the business world, Kelli has irreparably harmed women’s causes & credibility. For every Kelli who seizes the cultural moment we are all experiencing to advance their own dissatisfactions, disappointments, vendettas & agendas, the goal of equality, respect & legitimacy that women like Macella have actually devoted their lives to, becomes more unattainable. And the harm that Kelli’s actions have done to young women’s futures is incalculable.
Kelli is apparently not even empowered enough herself to have ever had the decency or courage to communicate with Macella.
Charles White
Sarah Lyon
September 1st, 2022
Just completely pitiful. Admitted under oath that she didn’t write “her” story on We Ride Together. Admitted when questioned under oath, that she had lied repeatedly when fabricating her allegations & admitted that she was still drinking @ the time she was solicited by others to make her false accusations.
The foundation of Sarah’s claim is that I ruined her life & set her on her path of self destruction. A very tough sell given that she herself confessed that she had an affair with Steve Hummel in Texas when she lived there in high school & rode with him. Also neglecting to mention that she flunked out of college in Kentucky when she drank very excessively & put her father’s generous allowance up her nose. She also later admitted that she went to work on the racetrack & traded sex for drugs. Sarah failed to mention any of this to us when she came begging for a job in 2003, also failing to disclose to us that she had already been in rehab. And yet, her allegation that I put her on this path? Hardly, she was like a runaway train on the self destruct route long before she came to DMS in 2003.
So , countless stints in rehab, DUIs, time in jail, more lost opportunities than can be counted. Why would anyone believe her ? Her own maid of honor @ her wedding & multiple witnesses contradicted her. Why would anyone find her even remotely credible with her slurred words, contradictions, inconsistencies, profanity & history of spiteful activity. Sarah turned her own brother Thomas into authorities for his childish illegal activities, because she was “tired of being the one that always got caught & Thomas always got away w/ everything. “
Clearly, Sarah did not take finally being fired well. To be fair, I’m sure it was a shock as so many people labored so diligently & for so long trying to help her. Sarah is showing her gratitude for years of support by maliciously betraying the very people who tried their best, obviously for far too long & very foolishly in hindsight. We have all learned the hard way that Sarah is actually that rare thing, a lost cause.
Sarah’s intent to harm me is clear, but how much harm she has done by misleading all the people who simply have no idea of the most basic facts that comprise Sarah’s sordid life is just awful. Apparently Sarah is just going to spend her entire miserable life lying, deceiving & betraying the people & organizations who have always done the right thing and supported her.
Once again, I would like to extend a personal invitation to Sarah to take a polygraph test @ my expense. As with everything else, every single thing I am saying is absolutely true, with mountains of evidence, & of course my polygraph test, to validate me.
Charles White
Claudia Colo
July 7th 2022
My lie detector results & challenge were posted June 11. Exactly one month later, to absolutely no one’s surprise, no one has stepped forward to demonstrate that they are actually telling the truth, nor even to attempt refute that they are just flat out lying…
Therefore I am going to begin publishing the truth, one week at a time. My first edition will be Claudia Colo, for the simple reason that I have issued Claudia a personal invitation to take a polygraph test with high stakes.
Claudia started living with us in our 800 square foot home in the 90’s. We were young, ambitious & enthusiastic, We lived together, traveled together, & spent many years building our lives together.
Those who know me know I am 6’4” & was certainly 250 + pounds in those years. Claudia was not much smaller @ 6’2” & approx 230 lbs. by her own description. Claudia said I was like another of her brothers- she came from a large family & was the only girl surrounded by brothers, many of whom came to visit us over the years & two actually worked for us, as did her nephew Ben, who also lived here @ Claudia’s request.
Claudia, Macella & I (& our dogs!) all stayed together in a 21’ gooseneck trailer with no pop-outs @ the horseshows for years. Claudia & I are the same age& united by our love of the horses & I think, by the love of Macella. Always volatile, Claudia was a “huge “ presence & but we appreciated her & tried to show it to her. In 1996 I began the very difficult endeavor of helping Claudia buy her dream home, which was available due to the death of a man named Charlie Petch I had worked for since I was in high school. Claudia fell in love with the house & desperately wanted to buy it, so we all made a plan together to make her dream come true.
Not only did Macella & I front the money for Claudia in Nov of 1996 by scraping all our money together & taking out a loan, but 14 months later Claudia was able to purchase the incredibly undervalued property from us for the exact amount we paid for it plus the $6000 our loan had cost. My best friend Steve Jones & I turned a dilapidated garage that took a dozen trips to the dumps to clean out & 4 days of jackhammering debris away ( I remember being the sickest I had ever been while I jackhammered) to make a complete rentable cottage that she could rent to be able to pay her mortgage. Thus making it possible for her to purchase the home. Everything, the bathroom, kitchen, windows, paint, fans, fireplace were all purchased & installed by me @ my expense & not reflected in the sales price. Every single thing I am writing is verifiable through both bank records & the Napa County Assessor’s office- you know , proof.
Claudia wept tears of gratitude & promised she would pay me $50k as soon as she could, but for sure if she ever sold the house. Claudia didn’t just tell me, She told lots of people. Many of whom submitted letters verifying this & who are eager to testify to this fact .
Why would they have to, you wonder? Because when Claudia’s house burned to the ground & she received her insurance money in August of 2021 & I asked if I could have my long owed $50k re-imbursement, Claudia fabricated completely false accusations of “sexual misconduct” against me, instead of paying the money she owed me. Instead of also reimbursing me for my $2500 log splitter that was on her property when it burned because she was borrowing it from me, as well as other miscellaneous equipment of mine that I always freely lent her , that she certainly could have reimbursed me for when she got her insurance money.
What, you may ask did Claudia allege?? Claudia alleged that she & I were returning from a Neil Young concert together in 1997 & I attempted to pull her head into my lap because I wanted a blow job from her. It’s really hard to know where to start on this one. Let’s start with the obvious, not for one minute of my life have I ever wanted a blow job or any other kind of sexual interaction from or with Claudia. The irony of her claiming that this occurred the very year I was slaving away building her cottage is spectacular. Claudia really can’t get any part of her lie straight, as we went and saw Neil Young @ the Concord Pavilion in 1996 & not 1997. Additionally, anyone that knows Claudia a little bit knows that she would never suffer any perceived insult without pitching a complete fit & telling everyone. Claudia has never been shy about ranting & raving anytime she was displeased.
But, just in case that wasn’t damning enough, Claudia threw in some copycat claims that she saw me with my robe open & saw me masturbating while she was living in my house with me. Again, where to start? If she actually saw something, why didn’t she say something if she was uncomfortable ?? In no world would Claudia not caterwaul about this to everyone that could not outrun her. This became the common fabricated theme – not one single shred of real time verification , corroboration, validation.you know, proof! No proof ever actually. Why did she stay & why did she keep on returning? And, how can you disprove false claims like that? After being full grown adults living together without complaints or incidents for years in small spaces, why only a problem when she finally has to pay her debt? Instead she is building herself a new house in Washington state & continuing to slander & defame me. I find myself absolutely astonished @ the number of people who appear to be believing Claudia’s outright lies & to this day am amazed that she is able, willing & obviously comfortable deceiving so many people.
In the intervening years since the 1990s when Claudia claims these “transgressions” occurred, Claudia has: asked to have her nephew live here & work with me because I was such an excellent role model (which he did); begged to return to work here because “this was the most wholesome environment she ever had the privilege of being in” ( as several people have testified) came to our house for holidays; had us to her beautiful house for holidays, where she always announced that she could never have had her home if it wasn’t for me & endorsed me to everyone she interacted with. Multiple people have verified every single thing I have said. Despite her best friend since 8th grade saying she no longer speaks to Claudia because “she is a pathological liar”. Despite Patrick Bagwell, who took care of her when she had hepatitis & thought they were good friends stating that Claudia lied to him & abandoned their friendship instead of paying him the money she owed him.
For the record, Claudia is not even denying anything I am saying, she’s just saying I don’t have it in writing. Which is sadly & foolishly true. But I do have a list of people ready, willing & eager to testify & I do think @ this point I might be able to ask a court for a lot more than the $50 K that I am just trying to get reimbursed for.
However, if Claudia will take a lie detector test, at my further expense, & if she can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the polygraph machine that she is telling the truth & does not think she made a deal with me owes me $50 k , I will walk away from all my money & labor. Nothing can repair the damage she has done to my heart. I did love Claudia like a sister & I did my absolute best for her, I thought she was part if our family. We famously wrestled together for many years- usually with her instigating it. We laughed a lot, celebrated together, cried together, basically grew together. There is no amount of money she can pay me that will heal the wound she has inflicted.
Charles White
Melanie Rapp
August 12th, 2022
“Here is the next story that I finally get to tell in its entirety. Once again, every single thing I am saying is verifiable & has been proven to be “unambiguously true” by the polygraph test I voluntarily undertook on June 11. And, I am once again issuing an invitation, this time specifically to Melanie Rapp , to take a polygraph test herself @ my expense.”
The pain of having people who shared our lives for so long, & who we tried so hard for & who we shared so much with, is indescribable. To hear & see people who have been so much a part of our lives just flat out lie, with a clear intent to harm everything we all held so dear is indescribable.
Perhaps no- one has been a more dramatic example of this than Melanie Rapp. The entire horse community knows how deeply enmeshed Melanie was in our beloved DMS , which she very much helped nurture & is now irrevocably attempting to harm.
I finally have the opportunity to tell, not my side of the story, but rather the actual story, which is the very least people who have been placed in the awkward uncomfortable position of being subjected to a barrage of inescapable “information “ deserve. My apologies to every single person reading this, I certainly have no desire to be writing it, I simply feel I owe it to all the kind, but doubtless confused, people who comprise the community I love so much.
Melanie’s allegations against me evolved from finding me ominous, to backing her into a corner, to finally, having me rape her in 2005. To which she later added to that I had “groomed” her since her arrival. When she was already a grandmother. The grooming of a grandma! Serially married, constantly having new “ men friends”, perennially having infatuations w/ men- all fine & none of my business. I just felt badly for her. Although it is true that one of her “boyfriends “ , a Canadian horse trainer she asked to have allowed into DMS, not only had his horses confiscated by the Sheriff out of our stalls @ the Oaks, because turns out they weren’t his. But, he also left a Sofa in our yard to pay his bill when he skipped out on in the night. Well, not really, I mean he left a Sofa! I only supply this example because it was just par for the course in Melanie’s personal life as it impacted us. Clearly, Melanie had nothing but troubles in this area, she told very inappropriate stories about her ex-husband’s raping her during our group dinners with children present, and spent a great deal of her time & money on cosmetic “ procedures” . All fine, everyone is doing their best, lots of lonely people, we all just felt sorry for her. Given that Melanie traveled great distances to ride w/ us & could take her lucrative business virtually anywhere & be welcomed, you have to wonder who was grooming whom?
Melanie always spent a great deal of time on social media & the immediately obvious collusion & cooperation with others is simply undeniable . The old adage I was taught “ sticks & stones will break my bones but words will never harm me”, turns out to be antiquated & downright dangerous. With the advent of the unaccountability of social media & the rampant disregard for reality to say nothing of the truth, having disgruntled employees who had been fired and customers who had been asked to leave DMS, conspire against our precious life, we now comprehend just how damaging words can be .
And it is true that once again, there is not one single shred of proof, evidence, verification, validation, corroboration, but instead endless amounts of evidence to the contrary. Again, why would Melanie never say anything to anyone? Ever? Why would Melanie spend her birthdays & Christmas’s with us, right up to 2016? Why would she have us over to grill cheese dinners in her trailer once a week @ horseshows? Why would she always want me to set up her RV & right next to us? Why would she treat us to the week-end @ the Ritz Carlton to watch the show jumping Olympic trials ? Why would she buy us a World Cup horse ? Why would she go to Kentucky & stay in a house with us to watch the World Games in 2010? Why would she go to Europe with us? Why would she stay in houses with us when we all rented them together @ horseshows? Why would she tell everyone how happy she was @ DMS? Why did she spend her birthday & Christmas with us right up until 2017, when Macella asked her to leave the barn
How is it possible that not one single person- friend, family, fellow rider can corroborate anything Melanie said? And yet very close friend outright contradicts her & And how is it possible to ignore endless numbers of people who could verify every single thing I am saying?
I certainly know she was not happy when Macella asked her to leave the barn in 2017. Macella set Melanie up to move to Reagan Hayes barn, as Reagan confirms, yet Melanie falsely claims that she left the barn. But, the entire Horseshow world knew that Melanie had fantastic success with us & spent every spare moment with us for over a decade .
As anyone can see Melanie held all the power in our relationship. As a tremendously valuable client we were all constantly trying to keep happy & make her successful. Everything single thing I’m saying is Completely verifiable, and has been verified by actually countless number of people. Many of whom have contributed facts that are so damning about Melanie. I have no need to add to the anguish & misery that is already so plentiful in this situation.
Charles White
Marnye Langer & Wendy Masten
August 16th, 2022
Marnye Langer has a reputation as so much of a notorious liar that the person that she named to vouch for her said “ Marnye has always made stuff up about people ever since I’ve known her” . How can an allegation so old, so uncorroborated, unverifiable & from such a known illegitimate source be taken seriously by anyone?
Marnye rode with us & spent many nights @ our house & we spent many nights @ her house. Marnye & I both worked for Sandy McKeon @ Carousel shows oh those many years ago & did so without interruption for many years after Marnye falsely alleges that I climbed into bed with her & felt her boob in 1993 . Here it is again, another touched breast nearly 30 years ago with no evidence whatsoever. Marnye sought me out utilized me as a hay vendor @ one of her shows in 2021, had schooled & stabled with us @ Thermal within the last five years & sent me personal Christmas greetings. All of which is easily verifiable.
When Marnye rode with us her mother Lisa Cain was a professional we worked closely & without any interruption or mention of said incident. Marnye was married to Britt Elliot & very pregnant @ the time of her fabricated allegations, & yet no problems @ any time with Britt.
Marnye not only claims that Kristen Hardin came into her office & informed her that there were rape allegations against me & I needed to be “brought down” for the “ good of the sport”, but Marnye claims she called Sonja Keating to find out about ramifications. So casual about lying, not really even any pretense @ keeping her lies straight.
Absolutely no regard whatsoever for the truth. My life being recklessly ruined & the lives of many other people, while blatant liars go unpunished. Although it does appear that Marnye may soon have the pleasure of becoming much more familiar with the simply horrific process I have just been drug through.
This time I extend a personal invitation to Marnye Langer to take a polygraph test @ my expense. Once again, I am the one telling the truth here, with abundant evidence in addition to my polygraph test to support me.
On to Wendy Masten, little Wendy who was one of our very first students, who actually won our very first blue ribbon. Who stayed w/ us when her mother died, whose brother worked for us for years, who lived w/ Cara when she was recovering from the worst accident anyone has ever had @ DMS. I just cannot convey the shock of having that person bold faced lie under oath. The claim: “ in 1995 Wendy was driving to an Oregon show with me & fell asleep & when she woke up I was touching her boobs” . Let’s not even go into how there is simply no defense against the ancient unprovable claim of a hand on the breast over 35 years ago. In fact, we always drove in convoys with our old rickety equipment & usually with multiple people & dogs in the trucks wherever we went AND, even more importantly we did not go to a show in Oregon in 1995 – we can verify that.
Wendy claims this event was so traumatic she had to “escape “& left our barn & moved to Woodland Stallion station. However, when she claims to have escaped DMS for Woodland Stallion station. DMS was actually running Woodland Stallion Station as a satellite barn with a lovely woman named Susan Garmier who Wendy was good friends with. So, hardly leaving at all. Next, Wendy claims she moved to Bob Henry & Cathy Ziffren’s barn, yet another barn – of course, this was another barn where we were the private trainers at that time & very good friends with Bob; we were there every single day. What “escape”?
Just absolutely rubbish & her brother says that he & Wendy always toasted DMS @ Christmas for being one of the best parts of their young lives. And what you may ask inspired Wendy? Well, she read all about “ it” on social media where she was then contacted by 3 different people who told her their stories & solicited her to join them. So an entirely false allegation, completely unverifiable, of a hand on a breast over 30 years ago.
It’s really amazing that we have been in business for about to be 40 years, billed out around 100 horses per month for over a decade, had in excess of 15 employees during that time & despite the absolute best efforts of these vindictive women they could only dredge up a handful of people who were susceptible to their entreaties to join them. In one case, the third time that one of them called a women who worked for me for years & told her if she could not remember the abuse she suffered while she worked for me it was probably a repressed memory & they had someone that could help her recall what actually happened! And you thought that just occurred @ the Salem Witch Trials.
Again, every single thing I am saying is verifiable & true. Again, I extend a personal invitation to Wendy Masten to take a polygraph test @ my expense.
Charles White
Kristen Hardin
July 28th, 2022
Incredibly alarming to confirm that Kristen Hardin has actually been working for Safe Sport. Today under oath in an actual court of law, Kristen testified that she was incessantly & obstreperously filming me at the request of Safe Sport investigator Natasha Mitchell.
What at first seemed like a far fetched scenario has turned out to actually be true & so incredibly alarming.
But unsurprisingly, no Restraining Order against Kristen Hardin was granted today by the court. Yet another example of law enforcement paralyzed and not only allowing but actually encouraging, inflammatory, irresponsible & just downright untruthful & incoherent rantings to continue unchecked. We can only hope, that unlike the other examples we are seeing all around us in the broader cultural context, this will not end catastrophically.
For sure we are all witnessing the demise of civility, common decency & and value being attached to truth.
Charles White
Cara O’neill
June 12th, 2022
As an 85 year old women, it appears to me, that Safe Sport operates outside the rule of law like the “McCarthy Tribunal” in that disgraceful episode of our county’s history that I vividly recall living through. Just like the McCarthy era, untold damage is being done to individuals, their families & in this case, many different sports & industries.
To be clear, my experience of Safe Sport began with their utter failure to accomplish their alleged intent to find justice for the horrific abuse of the child gymnasts.
While Safe Sport appears to be unable to do any good whatsoever, they certainly are proving themselves capable of doing a tremendous amount of harm to innocent people.
When the Safe Sport arbitrator claimed a member of my family had “groomed” a complainant for sexual abuse, I felt compelled to share my personal experience of Safe Sport.
Why? Because the term “groomed” is used in a guilty until proven innocent manner throughout social media & clearly brings the arbitrator’s bias & suitably into question.
The female arbitrator announcing that all the complainants were “credible”, further demonstrated that she considered my family & our many legitimate witnesses not credible.
We are a third generation family in a small community where we have deep roots & connections. Our friends, associates & alumni gave overwhelming testimony not only to our historical generosity & willingness to attempt to help those who were in need(which is the state that most of these complainants were in when they were in our lives) but also specifically refuted the accusations & allegations due to their personal knowledge of the claimants.
Safe Sport’s cultivation & support of these unproven & unprovable accusations, made by completely disreputable claimants, have threatened our livelihood & caused overwhelming emotional stress to our family, community & all those who care so deeply about us & know us so well.
Safe Sport needs to be “reined in” immediately . Those who created it need to recognize that it is enormously harmful & blatantly unlawful . It will be just as disgraceful a chapter in our history as McCarthyism was .
Cara O’neill
Kristen Hardin
May 25th, 2022
Restraining order against Kristen Hardin
UPDATE 5.25.2022
I am happy to announce that as a first step, we have been granted a Restraining Order against Ms Kristen Hardin, by the California Court System. .Both our National governing body USEF & the deeply flawed & clearly corrupted organization of Safe Sport w/unqualified & compromised people @ the helm, did not just ignore the very real & steadily escalating threat that Ms Hardin poses to us & the entire industry, but have condoned & supported her in the ultimate act of lawlessness & failure in their alleged mission to protect their members & promote their industry. After over seven months of having USEF & Safe Sport be unresponsive, it was such a relief to have actual law enforcement immediately respond to our plea for help.
This battle to correct these wrongs is not just far from over, it is just beginning.
Charles White
Charles White
June 11th, 2022
UPDATE 6.11.2022
I have been blessed to have so many people be so incredibly kind & supportive of me throughout this really terrible ordeal. It is still just unspeakably traumatic to be completely defenseless and have your character, honor & reputation irreparably damaged & your business & personal life in a heartbreaking shambles, all from false allegations. Even worse, the arbitrator just ignored all of the evidence that we presented, and all of the arguments that my attorney Howard Jacobs made. The arbitration decision ignored the inconsistencies, completely ignored all of our evidence, and simply accepts the false allegations as true without any meaningful analysis. If the arbitrator had simply written “I believe the accusers because that is what the Me Too Movement requires, it would have had the same level of thought and analysis as what was actually written.
However, now that SafeSport no longer has any power over me, I am defenseless no more, and I will no longer be victimized by SafeSport’s recklessness and lazy “always believe the accuser” mentality.
Once the shock of the farcical arbitration subsided, my first step was to schedule a very reputable & rigorous polygraph examination, which I had always told SafeSport that I would do.
I was finally able to undergo the polygraph test on Friday morning. Frankly, it was very intense, intimidating & lengthy, but the myriad of machines attached to me, found me to be unambiguously truthful in answering every single question posed to me. The polygraph questions addressed all of the false allegations that have been so painfully levied against me by people who had been very close to me.
Having submitted myself to a polygraph examination, I now invite those who have falsely accused me, and who have taken advantage of all that we have provided them for many years at Diamond Mountain Stables, to participate in the same polygraph process I just went through. Also, despite the despite the nearly $60k that I spent trying to defend myself in SafeSport’s rigged system, and despite the fact that those who have falsely accused me were supported along the way by SafeSport who advocated for them for free, I will volunteer to pay for them to submit to a polygraph test as well. After all they have received from DMS, it is the very least they should do. I am sure that not one of them will accept this offer, because they know that they are lying and that their accusations against me are false.
The results of my polygraph test will be published.
Again, watch this space. So much more to come & never forget, anyone who would like to contribute to this website is welcome to do so.
Charles White
Polygraph Exam
June 10th, 2022
Howard L. Jacobs
May 7th, 2022
I am extremely disappointed in the arbitration decision, which merely recited the allegations of each of the testifying claimants and found them to be credible with very little analysis or explanation. The majority of the respondent’s arguments and evidence – including exposed lies by certain claimants to the U.S. Center for SafeSport – were not addressed at all, but rather, were simply ignored. We will explore all remaining legal avenues available to correct this injustice.
Howard L. Jacobs
Sports lawyer
Charles White
May 25th, 2022
It’s obvious now, with the benefit of hindsight, that Macella was, very sadly, completely correct about the safe sport process. Not only did we waste our time &money but time and heartfelt efforts of everyone else who participated on our behalf and in our defense. Instead of partaking in the illegitimate process, it is clear I should have written a statement refuting the entirely false and fabricated allegations & just taken whatever “punishment “ Safe Sport decided to impose on me because the result would be the same – a complete miscarriage of justice. Instead, I fear my participation legitimized a completely uncredible and unconstitutional system. There were such blatantly clear conflicts of interest of the “ claimants “ (or “victims” as Safe Sport routinely referred to them). We presented overwhelming evidence that compellingly refuted every allegation by an enormous number of very credible people who knew everyone involved. This was all absolutely and willfully ignored by Safe Sport. Safe Sport not only spent 300 days basically soliciting & scripting “claimants “, they also encouraged & exploited the social media insanity that was an enormous component of the “ case” against me.
The women who succumbed to the enticements & manipulations of both Safe Sport & social media are obviously, like we are seeing all around us on the news every day, very vulnerable & isolated people easily detached from reality & incited to negative actions. Nothing, however, forgives them for blatantly lying & maliciously harming me & Macella. Macella never did anything but work tirelessly for every single one of these women & has suffered the ultimate betrayal @ their hands . They should be ashamed of themselves. They all benefitted enormously from their long & involved tenure @ DMS, to say nothing of undermining the cause of women everywhere. If these full grown adult women believed in the Safe Sport process @ all, they would not have weaponized it. Nor would they have compromised & contaminated the process with their irresponsible & illegitimate involvement with the hateful social media crusade.
Charles White
Charles White
May 25th, 2022
We just got the shocking news that the Arbitrator upheld absolutely every single position that Safe Sport took. It is appalling that this deeply flawed process being executed by unqualified & incompetent individuals, is being allowed to function in this country to say nothing of destroying this sport & industry I have devoted my life to.
I am planning to vigorously devote a great deal of time, energy & money to attempting to rectify this grievous injustice & honestly am looking forward to joining forces with the many outstanding people who are already involved in this endeavor.
Actually several silver linings, including that with my newly imposed lifetime suspension, USEF, Safe Sport & my claimants no longer have any jurisdiction whatsoever over me . Watch this space for, finally, some free flowing information.
Charles White
Kathi Haworth
March 11th, 2022
Opinion
I am a Dressage Trainer, a mom, and my father was in law enforcement.
I absolutely believe abuse of minors should never be tolerated. I have serious concerns about how Safe Sport is going about this. I know personally one case where Safe Sport got it horribly wrong, so how many more cases are there like this one?
No group should have the right to be an investigator, judge, jury, and executioner… Ever! Why do the accused not have the right to defend themselves until after they are found guilty by Safe Sport?
Yet… They are publicly put on a list for all to see and post all over social media. Creating a horrible accusatory environment of opinion, anger, side-taking, and finger-pointing. Which subsequently creates an awkward uncomfortable insecure environment for the minors competing at their events.
Not to mention ruining the one on the list personally and professionally.
How is this possible?
Too much secrecy, how about full disclosure? Who is watching, monitoring Safe Sport?
I am concerned for both sides. The ones who have the courage to come forward with legitimate claims, and are let down for all their efforts.
And the ones who are falsely accused, are ruined personally and professionally in the process.
When a group, of only 5 years of age, has this much controversy and lives so horribly impacted on both sides I believe it is fair to say:
This is not working! It’s time for a change.
A preponderance of evidence, and beyond a reasonable doubt are legal standards for good reason.
Kathi Haworth
Nancy Roach
March 25th, 2022
Opinion
As someone who has spent a lifetime devoted to US Women’s Gymnastics as an athlete, coach, gym owner and gymnastics statistician for NBC Sports television I at first welcomed the arrival of Safe Sport. I was in hopes that this new organization would address the devastating abuses that had been and were occurring in the sport that I have devoted my life to. Anyone who viewed the testimony of some of the female gymnastic victims during the US Congressional hearings about the exposed abuses would likely come to the conclusion that the collective hopes of we interested parties might have been misplaced.
As disappointing as that may be, I have also been involved in some of the same in the equestrian world through my own daughter’s junior competitive show jumping experience and have watched similar havoc in that sport. Our experience during those competitive junior years was very rewarding to both parents and riders. I am concerned that similar opportunities for upcoming young riders might not be available due to what appears to be an avalanche of claims brought by Safe Sport against a number of trainers. As in my own experience in the world of gymnastics, some of the accused were certainly deserving of the punishments doled out to them, but not all. It seems to me that the critical flaw of the Safe Sport mandate is the de facto assumption of guilt from the moment that an accusation is leveled against the alleged perpetrator. Of further concern is the absence of any statute of limitations or repercussions for false or misleading accusations which have an immediate negative effect on the accused. The result, probably unintended, is that Safe Sport weaponizes disgruntled clients and employees as evidenced in more than one case that I am personally aware of. In addition to the questionable legality of it’s mandate mentioned above, the execution seems to be haphazard in some cases at best. It bothers me that there’s no oversight to the actions of Safe Sport and there is an apparent immunity to basic legal concepts and the civil rights of the accused. I would like to see Safe Sport achieve it’s intended mandate but not at the ruination of innocent lives and businesses. That is not what this country is founded on. My husband of 44 years is a military veteran and it breaks his heart to witness the erosion of the rule of law in our wonderful USA. Thank you for taking the time to read the concerns of a fellow advocate of justice. Nancy Roach
Nancy Roach
Judy Stridden
March 6th, 2021
Opinion
I recently retired after serving 24 years in law enforcement in California. I retired at the executive level. I spent several years during my tenure as a sexual assault and homicide detective. Also during my tenure, I was assigned as the Commander over the Investigations Division.
I echo many who
have concerns about Safe Sport investigations and due process.
I believe in the intent of SS. Of course abuse, and especially abuse of minors should not be tolerated. I have concerns about cases SS handles that lack “best evidence” – DNA, text messages, pictures, eye witness statements etc. SS will investigate cases when the cases cannot be handled by law enforcement. I understand this is because the action is not criminal; or if criminal, there is a lack of evidence, or the crime has exceeded the statute of limitations. There are legitimate reasons why certain complaints cannot be investigated or are rejected for filing by District Attorneys. It is worrisome that a board has the power to make decisions affecting the livelihood and reputation of individuals when the same cases would not rise to the level of prosecution in our justice system.
I understand SS has the authority, as in civil cases, to use a preponderance of evidence as their standard. I can only hope they are getting it right the majority of the time. I have spent many many hours with victims of abuse and sexual assault. I have witnessed the agony they endure after being victimized. I have also had experience with those who manufacture claims of assault and abuse. Their stories were utterly believable. It was shocking to later discover facts determining they had lied for one reason or another. Based on my experiences I will most likely always feel more comfortable with the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard.
I began to have doubts about SS when I had contact with a SS investigator. I knew the individual they were investigating.
The investigator had only one question for me: Can you corroborate the victims statements? It seemed very biased to me that all they sought was corroboration. I was not asked any questions about my knowledge of, or experiences with the individual. This gave me doubts about the investigator, their experience level, and it made me question the legitimacy of the process.
Judy Straden
Charles White
December 29th, 2021
On September 8, 2021, the US Center for Safe Sport notified me that allegations of “sexual misconduct” had been lodged against me dating back to 1980 when I was playing football at Montana State. The source of such complaints, I was told, were a set of unidentified initials that I did not recognize. These sexual misconduct allegations lodged against me by these unidentified initials are one-hundred percent false and I deny them in their entirety .
In the intervening months I have been subject to repeated harassment both online and in person because of these unfounded allegations. The misinformation and lies being perpetuated against me on social media are nothing short of shocking. I am utterly devastated and heartbroken to be accused of misconduct towards women. To be very clear, there is simply no world in which I would ever exert any force against a woman. My nature and instinct has always been, and will continue to be, to protect women and children at all costs.
It is hard to know where to start, but because of the sheer volume of damaging and false stories circulating I will set the record straight and start at the beginning. I do not share private information about my childhood lightly, but because of its role in shaping me it seems necessary to share at this juncture.
While some people know that I had a difficult start in my life I have only learned in my late adulthood how much of a toll those experience exacted upon me. The reason this origin story is so important at this time is because it was during this period of my life that not only was I subjected to violence myself but the women around me that I loved & cared for were also subjected to extensIve abuse. My mother was very nearly killed several times before my eyes, my sisters were victims as well, and my aunt was killed by her husband in the house we were living in. I am so sensitized to violence against women & children that I have a visceral repulsion to it. When I was 11 I was made a ward of the court after being detained in Juvenile Hall for three months and several times previously. This change in my guardianship marked a significant improvement in my life. In short, it provided me some stability , structure & safety for the first time in my life.
I grabbed onto this new life & the opportunities it presented me like the life raft it was & began to build the life that so many people are familiar with today. I became the first person in my family to graduate from high school & even more importantly it was there that I met the love of my life Macella O’Neill. Together we began an amazing life journey filled with devotion, dedication & commitment . Words cannot convey how grateful I am for the life that I have lived.I have always felt a great obligation to share my good fortune with others because I certainly understand the old adage “ there but for the grace of God go I”.
In addition to all my other good fortune, over six years ago, I began to receive & continue to this day to receive, some incredibly helpful professional guidance that has provided me with comprehension & tools that allow me to more fully live my life.
Over the course of nearly 40 years, we have had dozens of people, often in incredible need, sharing our small house with one bathroom. Lonely people shared most of our meals, holidays and the like. We traveled the world horse shopping and showing for weeks on end sharing transportation, lodging, meals and, in short, feeling like family. I did anything and everything to share the glorious and welcoming life of opportunity that I had found in the equestrian world with anyone who desired to participate.
Now that I have more information about the claims against me, I am struggling to make sense of the personal betrayal I am experiencing at the hands of some of the very people I worked the hardest to help. In these last few traumatic months I have savored and appreciated the amazing outpouring of love and support from all the people who have shared in my life and remember it with fondness and appreciation, as I do. The sad truth that a very small number of people have the ability to so thoroughly disrupt and discredit what I have worked so hard to build is, in short devastating.
I now know that among the claimants are women who we have loaned money to years ago so that they could buy homes & start new careers. Many of these same women turned to us during times of hardship for comfort, solace, and emotional and financial support.
It is as confusing as it is hurtful that these people are seriously willing to damage the wonderful world that they participated in and helped create. I am not alone in feeling astonished. The unqualified outrage that the vast majority of the people in my life have expressed over these claims is one of the things that has helped me cope during this shockingly distressing time.
So now you know my situation from my perspective. Unlike the allegations against me, everything I am saying can be verified & substantiated. I am trapped in a nightmare from which there appears to be no escape. As of this writing I have had no opportunity to defend myself while my reputation & livelihood is being decimated & even more agonizing for me, the people closest to me are suffering as well. The truth will set me free I know and, I therefore eagerly await my opportunity to tell it.
Charles White
Position Statement
Make a Difference
If you are interested in voicing your opinions, perspectives or recommendations regarding Safe Sport, Senators Richard Blumenthal & Jerry Moran are two of the most involved Senators & the best way to make your voice heard is probably actual mail.
Below is contact info for both of them & you should also contact your local representatives with your opinions as well. Obviously, we would all love the USEF doing absolutely anything to assist us, so clearly the more input they get the better. We have also attached a lengthy but informative article that came out last week on ESPN re: Safe Sport.
Richard Blumenthal
United States Senator of Connecticut
or send a letter to this address:
706 HART SENATE
OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20510
Call:PHONE NUMBER:(202) 224-2823
Fax: FAX NUMBER:(202) 224-9673
Jerry Moran
United States Senator of Kansas
Click Here for the Senators web portal
of send a letter to this address:
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Room 521
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6521
Fax: (202) 228-6966