US Center for SafeSport Chief Executive Officer Ju'Riese Colón testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 5, 2020.Susan Walsh/The Associated Press
The leader of the U.S. Center for SafeSport wrote in an e-mail that the revelation of a former investigator’s arrest on rape charges was “just sickening,” while also saying there was no reason to believe he’d committed any wrongdoing while working for the centre.
CEO Ju’Riese Colon sent an e-mail to more than 70 U.S. Olympic leaders Sunday, shortly after The Associated Press published a story about former investigator Jason Krasley’s arrest on rape and sex-trafficking charges.
“I am angry and so disappointed,” Colon wrote in the e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by the AP. “I’m sad for our organization and the impact this may have on athletes. And I’m sure many of you, as well as your members, are feeling a range of emotions as well. This work is so hard, and to know that someone could have not only fooled us, but also law enforcement, is just sickening.”
In the e-mail to leaders at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and its affiliated sports organizations, Colon said the centre has hired an outside party to evaluate cases Krasley had handled.
“While we do not have any reason to believe he committed any wrongdoing while at the Center, the audit may result in the Center reopening cases,” Colon said.
That statement paralleled what a SafeSport employee wrote in an e-mail to a claimant whose case was handled by Krasley and who has asked for it to be reopened.
“Because we have many checks built into our investigative process, we do not anticipate that we will need to reopen many, if any, cases,” the employee wrote in that e-mail, which was seen by the AP.
The centre was established in 2017 to investigate and deliver sanctions in sex-abuse cases involving Olympic sports after scandals involving Larry Nassar and others framed the USOPC and its sports organizations as not up to the task of properly handling those cases.
Late last year, the centre had 36 people on its investigations team. At the end of 2023, the centre had 2,040 people listed on its centralized disciplinary database who had either been restricted or banned from sports participation.
Colon said in her e-mail that the centre fired Krasley promptly after learning he’d been arrested for allegedly stealing US$5,500 from a drug bust he helped conduct while on the vice squad with the police department in Allentown, Penn.
About six weeks after that arrest came Krasley’s arrest on rape, involuntary sexual servitude and other related charges.
“These charges are far more serious than the last, are despicable if true, and certainly put the Center back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons,” Colon wrote.
Krasley was released on US$750,000 bond shortly after the arrest.
The affidavit in the case was unsealed and, according to lehighcountylive.com, alleges another officer arrested in the case, Evan Weaver, told the victim she could avoid prison by performing a sex act on him after arresting her on a drug charge in 2011.
Four years later, the affidavit says, Krasley contacted the victim as part of a prostitution sting and when she asked if she was going to jail, he allegedly replied: “Why would I take you to jail? You know what you need to do,” before raping the victim.
Krasley’s lawyer, James Burke, told the AP his client denies the allegations and called it “bizarre” that these arrests were happening nearly a decade after an investigation into the episode had been completed. Burke said Krasley had been a decorated member of the police force before leaving in 2021, shortly after which he started work at the SafeSport centre.
None of the allegations surfaced during the SafeSport background check. In the e-mail, Colon said the centre was “evaluating our screening and hiring practices.”
“This situation is unprecedented for the Center,” Colon said. “As such, we will continue to implement and revise our response plan as necessary.”