NEWSLETTER
In a new report from TSN’s Rick Westhead, the advocacy group Child USA is requesting that the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USPOC) suspend Chicago Blackhawks President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Stan Bowman from his position as the General Manager of the USA Men’s Olympic Hockey Team for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics while he faces allegations that he helped cover up the sexual abuse of two former Chicago players.
You can find the full report from Westhead here:
An American think tank that studies child sexual abuse and prevention is asking the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee to suspend Stan Bowman from his position as U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team GM.
Story from @rwesthead: https://t.co/7KtaXcnpFK pic.twitter.com/vQ7IHxoy8V
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) September 13, 2021
Child USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank that conducts evidence-based legal, medical, and social science research to identify laws and policies affecting child protection, according to the organization’s website. The founder, Marci Hamilton, is the one leading this call to action against Bowman and has penned a three-page letter to the USPOC asking for his suspension.
According to Westhead, Hamilton says she decided to focus on the Blackhawks’ numerous off-ice scandals centering around former video coach Brad Aldrich, because she sees it as “evidence of a repeated pattern.”
More from Westhead’s report:
“This is the paradigm we keep seeing,” Hamilton said. “Not only do we have a perpetrator, but powerful institutions are essentially ignoring the fact that they have an abuser in their midst. This isn’t just a church or a boy scout problem. It’s a societal problem and this is a great example of that.”
In addition to Hamilton’s letter being sent to the USPOC, Westhead reports that it has also been sent to U.S. senators Richard Blumenthal and Jerry Moran, both of whom led an 18-month investigation into systemic abuse within the U.S. Olympic movement and advocated for the passage of the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act.
More from Hamilton on the Blackhawks and Bowman’s actions, from Westhead’s report:
“What we’re seeing now with the Blackhawks and USA Hockey is shocking not because of the behaviour of the predator,” Hamilton said in an interview. “What’s shocking is that it’s been 19 years since we learned, thanks to the Boston Globe journalists, how the bishops in the Catholic church repeatedly covered up sexual abuse by priests. This hockey case is shocking because by now people should know the proper way to respond to allegations like this.”
According to Westhead, spokesmen for the Blackhawks and USA Hockey did not respond to requests for comment and a USOPC spokesman told him they were unaware if the committee’s leadership had received the letter from Hamilton.
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics are sent to begin on February 4th, 2022, with the NHL pausing their season for the Olympic break on February 3rd.
We will continue to keep up with these stories as they continue to develop.
