US taekwondo athlete Steven Lopez, who has won two Olympic gold medals and five world championship titles, has been banned permanently by the American Center for SafeSport for sexual misconduct with a minor.
SafeSport has been investigating Lopez for four months, before making the final decision on Thursday. The organization said they found "preponderance of evidence" that Lopez had sexually abused Nina Zampetti when she was 14 years old.
"I’m happy to finally be heard and taken serious. I’m glad someone believes me, and after all these years of trying to tell my family that he was not who they thought he was, the truth is finally out. I feel like my life would have been different (for the better) if that never happened to me, and all I ever wanted was for him to be held accountable for that," said Zampetti to USA Today Sports on Friday.
Steven Lopez won gold medal in men's under-80kg taekondo at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. /VCG Photo
Lopez was suspended in May after four women sued USA Taekwondo and the US Olympic Committee for sex trafficking. The lawsuit said that both organizations had long been aware that Lopez and his brother Jean are sex predators, yet still kept send young female athletes for competitions and practice with them. After that, SafeSport was added as the defendant, too.
Lopez can still appeal and has five days to notify SafeSport that he wants to proceed with an appeal. His lawyer Howard Jacobs said that his client would do so.
"SafeSport’s issuance of a sanction is done without any hearing and without any review by a neutral fact-finder. We expect that when a neutral fact-finder hears the case for the first time, Steven Lopez will prevail, because the allegations are false," said Jacobs in a statement.
Lopez had been thought to be the biggest star in taekwaondo. /VCG Photo
Both Steven and Jean have been under investigations for sexual misconduct in the past three years. Jean was banned for life by SafeSport in April after the organization found that he had committed the accused act.
Two taekwondo athletes Mandy Meloon and Amber Means initially accused Steven Lopez of sexual misconduct. Meloon said Steven had sexually and physically assaulted her while Means claimed that he had sex with her after she was drugged. They were then joined by another two women in a lawsuit against the Lopez brothers, USA Taekwondo, the US Olympic Committee and SafeSport.
(Top picture: Steven Lopez after losing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro /VCG Photo)