A civil lawsuit has been filed in an American court against USA Swimming by the family of an Indiana teen who say officials should have done more to protect the girl from sexual assault.
The suit lists USA Swimming, Indiana Swimming, Lawrence Swim team and former coach Christopher Wheat as defendants. Wheat was a coach for the Lawrence Swim team, a club sanctioned by USA Swimming.
Wheat was arrested two years ago and was jailed after pleading guilty last year to two counts of felony sexual misconduct with a minor and one count of felony child solicitation.
The family's lawyer Jonathan Little said swimming officials did not take seriously complaints made about inappropriate behavior by Wheat.
USA Swimming defended its role in a statement Thursday and said it has not received the lawsuit.
"To the extent that the attorney has claimed that USA Swimming has a culture of protecting pedophiles, that is categorically untrue," the statement said.
"There is nothing more important to USA Swimming than the safety and well-being of its 300,000 members. The organization has developed one of the most comprehensive athlete protection programs among Olympic sports."
A number of similar lawsuits have been filed around the country alleging USA Swimming covered up wrongdoing.
USA Swimming said it has banned at least 46 coaches and officials for life, mostly for sexual misconduct.
The sport's popularity has grown since Michael Phelps won a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and six golds at the Athens games in 2004.
gph/adm
