Safe Sport - A Second Ban for Volleyball Coach

(ATR) Rick Butler faced allegations of misconduct and abuse from a number of former players, says a statement from the national governing body.

Specifics of the charges heard by the NGB’s Ethics and Eligibility committee Jan. 8 were not disclosed.

Butler, 63, owns the Sports Performance Volleyball club in Aurora, Illinois. Based on a 10-acre campus west of Chicago also owned by Butler, the club has produced four Olympic medalists and nearly 100 national championships.

"USA Volleyball is committed, through the U.S. Center for SafeSport program, to ridding our sport of coaches and others who engage in hurtful actions against athletes and young people," Lori Okimura, USA Volleyball chair said in a statement.

Butler refused to participate in this week’s hearing, a case he labels as "baseless" in an e-mail to Around the Rings.

In addition to the action taken this week, Butler was handed a lifetime ban last month for publicly disclosing the name of one of the accusers promised confidentiality.

Butler says he believes the intent of USA Volleyball is "to provide a one-sided and biased forum in order to harm my reputation and business.

"Furthermore, when USA Volleyball first filed a complaint against me in December of 2016, I immediately scheduled and passed a polygraph examination that demonstrated that the accusations were false. Despite that, USA Volleyball refused to consider the polygraph results or affidavits of former players contradicting the allegations," asserts Butler.

USA Volleyball attorney Steven Smith said Butler has waged a pitched campaign to block the NGB complaint.

"When USA Volleyball first filed its complaint, Mr. Butler filed suit in Illinois State Court seeking to prohibit USA Volleyball from holding a hearing. He spent a lot of time and money trying to prevent USA Volleyball from holding a hearing. And, when USA Volleyball provided him with his opportunity to participate in a hearing, Mr. Butler chose not to participate," says the attorney.

The Ethics and Eligibility committee heard from two women who say that Butler sexually abused them in the 1980's. One of his accusers, now 49, says Butler made her pregnant 29 years ago and told her to seek an abortion.

Butler claims that he had sex with his accusers, but says they were no longer minors or members of the team he coached, according to past statements.

Beth Rose, one of the accusers, told the Chicago Sun-Times she supports the ban but says USA Volleyball should have clearly stated the charges against Butler.

"Let’s be absolutely transparent about what this is. I’m really disappointed," Rose is quoted by the newspaper. The Chicago Sun-Times published a series of reports last year about the latest accusations against Butler.

The ban is the second faced by Butler in a 30-year career of youth volleyball coaching. In 1995 he was banned for five years for charges that he sexually molested at least three girls he coached in the 1980's and 1990’s.

No criminal charges were lodged and he was allowed to return to volleyball, restricted to administrative work, five years later.

Butler is one of two individuals banned for life among the names of five volleyball officials who are currently suspended by USA Volleyball. The other individual with a lifetime ban is also charged with sex abuse.

The USA Volleyball website includes a section dedicated to SafeSport that includes a means to report abuse.

The practical impact of the USA Volleyball ban on Butler might be limited. He has not fielded a team for a USA Volleyball event since 2007 and is no long a dues-paying member of the NGB.

However, the Amateur Athletic Union continues to allow Butler to coach, despite his record. One of his victims is suing the AAU over the matter.

Butler is listed along with his wife as an owner of Great Lakes Center Youth Academy.

The 10-acre complex includes a 60,000 square foot venue and eight courts. The center, aimed at developing youth volleyball, serves more than 1,000 athletes a year, from age three to 13, according to the website.

Reported by Ed Hula.