Attorney seeks more transparency of investigation into Charlotte area gymnastics coach
More than seven months after a coach at a prestigious Charlotte-area gymnastics facility was banned by federal sporting officials, his attorney says he’s heard nothing about the investigation while his client remains out of work.
Franklin Winstead, a longtime coach at Southeastern Gymnastics in Weddington, was suspended in February by the United States Center for SafeSport. His fate is uncertain pending an investigation into alleged misconduct by SafeSport, a body Congress created in 2017 to investigate abuse in amateur athletics.
Richard Kronk, the attorney representing Winstead, said he’s heard nothing about the status of SafeSport’s investigation and does not even know who the investigator is.
“We haven’t heard word one from an investigator,” Kronk said. “We’ve been told, ‘you’ll be contacted when the investigator needs to speak with you.’
“Here we sit.”
Daniel Hill, spokesman for SafeSport, would not provide any specifics on the status of the investigation into Winstead, but confirmed that it is ongoing.
“We follow best practice in investigations,” Hill said. “It’s not uncommon that a responding party won’t have a lot of information other than a notice of allegations.”
Coach departs, returns & departs
Winstead was informed in February that he was to cease coaching at the gym and was to have no contact with any gymnasts or facilities affiliated with USA Gymnastics, according to the organization, which oversees the sport.
The investigation is believed to stem from allegations made on Twitter claiming Winstead inappropriately touched a minor years ago, according to parents of gymnasts who train at Southeastern.
The Charlotte Observer confirmed the contents of the tweets, which were published by an account that has since been deleted.
There have been no allegations that the longtime coach behaved inappropriately with any athletes at Southeastern said Kronk, who stressed that Winstead denies any wrongdoing.
“He would deny any allegations that he did anything inappropriate with anyone,” the attorney said. “He’s never had a single complaint in 20-plus years of coaching.”
According to interviews over the summer with parents at the gym, Winstead stepped away from coaching at Southeastern around the time he would have been notified of his ban, with no explanation to gymnasts or their families from Southeastern Gymnastics’ owners.
But Winstead soon returned to coaching, continuing until USA Gymnastics sent Southeastern parents a letter, dated June 13, informing them of the sanctions against Winstead.
It’s unclear what led Winstead to return to the gym after he was informed of the sanctions against him. Kronk declined to go into specifics but suggested that Winstead believed he was cleared to return to work. Laura Budd, the attorney representing Southeastern Gymnastics, did not respond to multiple attempts to discuss the situation.
On June 16, parents received an email message from gym owner Mike Leske saying that Winstead would not return to coaching “until we have ascertained it is appropriate to do so.”
Winstead remains out of work with no clarity on the progress of the investigation, Kronk said.
USA Gymnastics did not respond to multiple inquiries for this story. Winstead remains on the list of banned personnel on the USA Gymnastics and SafeSport websites.
However, Winstead is still listed as a coach on the Southeastern Gymnastics website. His biography there says he is a former gymnast who has been working at the gym since it opened in 1997. Winstead was an All-American gymnast at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania and was the 1982 Division II national champion in the men’s floor exercise, according to the university’s athletics website.
Southeastern Gymnastics has become known as one of the best gyms in the Charlotte area. The gym, off Providence Road in Weddington, is known for producing athletes that compete at the national level and regularly earn college scholarships.
Investigating allegations
Congress created SafeSport, the body investigating Winstead, in the wake of a massive sexual abuse scandal within USA Gymnastics. In 2016 it was revealed that organization had badly bungled sexual abuse allegations over decades, including evidence that former USA Gymnastics Medical Director Larry Nassar had sexually abused hundreds of girls and how his behavior had been dismissed, covered up or tolerated.
In December 2021, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee reached a $380 million settlement with hundreds of gymnasts abused by Nassar, who is serving multiple decades-long prison sentences.
In the wake of that scandal, the nonprofit SafeSport was tasked with resolving abuse and misconduct reports from amateur athletes affiliated with groups recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Winstead is one of 54 people listed as “pending resolution”, which means their case has not yet been resolved by USA Gymnastics or SafeSport.
Being in the dark about Winstead’s ban until receiving the USA gymnastics letter left some parents angry with Southeastern. But others remained fiercely in Winstead’s corner.
“Frank is an amazing coach, encouraging, kids and parents love him,” said Laura Coleman, a parent with two daughters at the gym.
“He is the kindest, funniest, and most professional coach I’ve ever taken classes with,” said Brooklyn de Iulio, who took private lessons with Winstead.
The lack of transparency into the SafeSport investigation leaves Kronk concerned his client won’t be getting due process, the protection of rights promised in criminal court, in the SafeSport probe, the lawyer said.
An administrative body, SafeSport does not have the same requirements as civil or criminal courts, Kronk said. For one, if someone hires an attorney to represent them, as Winstead has done, the attorney is not allowed to speak for the accused during SafeSport proceedings, according to the body’s regulations.
If an investigator finds a preponderance of evidence – basically that it’s more likely than not a violation occurred – SafeSport can impose sanctions, according to SafeSport regulations. Any challenge to that decision would go before an arbitrator, whose decision is final.
Kronk is not alone in questioning SafeSport’s handling of cases of abuse in amateur athletics. The Pulitzer Center in 2020 reported that SafeSport “has faced a backlash from the supporters of banned athletes, coaches, and attorneys who believe that the organization operates outside of the justice system and does not provide adequate due process to the accused.”
“They have a lot of power and you have little power,” Kronk said. “I don’t think they’ve thought out the due process.
“You want to protect the kids, but not everyone who is accused of something is guilty or did anything wrong.”
This story was originally published October 4, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
