He allegedly lobbied to cover up the actions of his champion.
Coach John Zimmerman was suspended from practice on Wednesday in connection with the sexual harassment case against French skater Morgan Ciprès.
The latter, crowned European champion in pairs in 2019 with Vanessa James, but who announced his sports retirement in September 2020, is suspected of having sent in December 2017 two obscene photos to a young skater of 13 years who attended the same ice rink than him in Florida, where he had been training since the summer of 2016.
According to USA Today, at the origin of the revelations, his coach at the time has just been suspended for two years for "abuse of process", "bad emotional behavior" and "failure to report".
In summary, he is accused of having tried to prevent this 13-year-old sportswoman from denouncing these acts.
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The sanction is "not yet final" and Zimmerman has the possibility of appealing, specifies Safe Sport, the independent body dedicated to the fight against violence in sport.
No decision against Ciprès, or his other coach Silvia Fontana, has yet been published.
An arrest warrant for Ciprès in Florida
Since last December, an arrest warrant has been running in Florida against Morgan Ciprès, according to the lawyer for the alleged victim.
“It was irresponsible of me and I really regret my act.
I sincerely ask your apologies, ”wrote the native of Melun (Seine-et-Marne) in 2017 in a letter addressed to the victim and his family.
After having spent the confinement in France, he announced in September via the FFSG to retire.
"Morgan plans to get into real estate and now wishes to work on the development of the discipline of couples", then specified the organization, two months after an internal disciplinary commission chose to release him.