‘A huge slap in the face’: Frustrations grow over cheerleading’s mishandled sexual misconduct cases
Seated in an interrogation room in a Washington state jail, Lenny Lewis Jr. spun an implausible tale about why he had downloaded child pornography onto his co-worker’s laptop. Lewis explained to Kent police that he was sick of working as a cheerleading coach. He wanted to be fired from the gym where he taught tumbling to young athletes — and to ensure he would never again work in the sport.
“There is no way,” Lewis said in 2010, “that I would be able to get a job after this in cheerleading.”
He was wrong. The criminal justice system did its part by convicting Lewis of attempted possession of child pornography and placing him on Washington’s sex offender registry. But Lewis kept coaching, slipping by a Kentucky gym owner who did not make him pass a background check. Then in 2016, Lewis used a fraudulent Social Security number to clear a screening for membership in the U.S. All Star Federation (USASF), the national governing body of competitive cheerleading.
Lenny Lewis Jr.
Lenny Lewis Jr.
COURTESY OF KIM KAWACHI
He might still be coaching today if he hadn't run into the gym owner who fired him for downloading child pornography.
Kim Kawachi said she was so alarmed to see her former employee still working in the sport that she picked up the phone in late 2017 and called USASF. When officials there told her Lewis had passed his background check, Kawachi said she drove to the courthouse, copied the records showing his conviction and sent them to USASF.
Months passed, Kawachi said.
Lewis kept coaching.
“It was just like, ‘How much more could I possibly give you? Why can’t you dig a little deeper on what’s going on? Or is this just another thing on your damn desk and you don't want to deal with it?’” Kawachi said.
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Kim Kawachi, former cheer gym owner in Washington
It was just like, ‘How much more could I possibly give you? Why can’t you dig a little deeper? And what’s going on? Or is this just another thing on your damn desk and you don't want to deal with it?’
A USA TODAY investigation found that USASF has an inherently flawed process for investigating complaints — one with critical gaps that have repeatedly allowed adults accused or even convicted of sexual misconduct to remain around children. Sometimes USASF doesn’t even follow its own procedures, allowing complaints to stall mid-process or delaying action when their policies call for a person to be suspended or banned.
USASF has received hundreds of complaints against individuals accused of misconduct, such as bullying, financial impropriety and sexual abuse. Yet it has had no staff dedicated full-time to managing those cases, according to a former USASF contractor who said she and the organization’s membership director were the only ones handling that task from 2019 until she left this fall. Ginger Wilczak, the contractor, said she worked just a few hours a week as USASF's SafeSport case manager — and even that was scaled back during the pandemic in part due to financial constraints. “If I made 10 hours a week, that was an extraordinary week,” she said.
Though experts say sexual misconduct accusations should be acted on immediately, USA TODAY found multiple examples in which USASF paused its process for law enforcement to investigate, taking no steps to warn the cheer community or public.
USA TODAY interviewed nearly two dozen people who expressed frustration with the way USASF handled their concerns, citing the organization’s drawn-out process and lack of communication.
Kim Kawachi, a former cheer gym owner in Washington, fired Lenny Lewis Jr. in 2010 after he downloaded child pornography onto a co-worker’s laptop.
Kim Kawachi, a former cheer gym owner in Washington, fired Lenny Lewis Jr. in 2010 after he downloaded child pornography onto a co-worker’s laptop.
KAREN DUCEY, FOR USA TODAY
Washington gym owner Jeff Mendoza was not banned by USASF until more than a year after the organization received reports in 2018 that he was accused of sexual misconduct, according to records obtained by USA TODAY. Mendoza, who is awaiting trial on two felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after allegedly coercing his athletes to pose for photographs nude and in their underwear, declined to comment. He has pleaded not guilty.
California coach Ryan Carter was reported to USASF and child protective services in late October after families said he had inappropriate contact with multiple female athletes, including slapping them on the butt and sending overly familiar, non-sexual messages, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY. Law enforcement opened an investigation, and Carter has since been fired for messaging athletes after being placed on leave, records provided by a gym official show. But he has not been publicly suspended by USASF. The organization has only suspended his membership internally, the documents show. Carter called the allegations “very fabricated and untrue” and denied being fired or under investigation. Law enforcement did not respond to a request for comment on the status of its investigation.
Jeff Mendoza
Jeff Mendoza
HANDOUT PHOTO
Texas coach Jorge Martinez was reported to USASF in December 2018 by a gym owner who alleged he had beat up an athlete he was dating while they were at a cheer competition. Martinez did not respond to requests for comment. The gym owner said USASF waited nearly two years to launch an investigation — opening it less than a week after USA TODAY published an article in September about misconduct in cheerleading.
In that report, USA TODAY revealed USASF and USA Cheer, the umbrella organization for all aspects of cheerleading, had failed to ban nearly 180 individuals who faced charges relating to sexual misconduct of minors while affiliated with the sport. When the newspaper began its investigation, USASF had suspended or banned just 16 people. More than 130 others have since been added to that list.
USASF, which has jurisdiction over more than 2,300 clubs and thousands of athletes, was created in 2003 by Varsity, a for-profit company that dominates the sport. Varsity continues to hold a permanent majority of seats on USASF’s board of directors, and USASF’s president and vice president of events and corporate alliances are Varsity employees.
USASF President Jim Chadwick and Vice President of Membership Amy Clark both declined requests to be interviewed for this article.
The organization requires its members to report all allegations of misconduct or abuse. In a statement, USASF said it has received 298 submissions to its online reporting form, more than 80% of which are not related to sexual abuse and maltreatment. It declined to say over what time period those reports were received, how many reports it has received by phone or email, or how many employees are dedicated to handling complaints. USASF also declined to comment on individual cases.
“We are careful to implement a process that is fair to the claimant and fair to the accused,” the organization said in a statement. “Every report we have received has been addressed or is in the intake and investigation process.”
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