SAN JOSE — Within the courtroom Thursday the place San Jose State’s former head athletic coach is accused of sexually assaulting feminine athletes, prosecutors positioned a faceless, full-sized model in a black sports activities bra and blue shorts earlier than the jury.
A former colleague – herself an athletic coach – stepped down from the witness stand and along with her fingers on the silver-toned model confirmed the eight ladies and 5 males within the jury field the place she would contact feminine athletes if that they had shoulder and again ache.
“Are you able to keep in mind a time whenever you reached into the cup of a lady’s bra and touched her breast with a view to deal with a shoulder harm?” Assistant U.S. Legal professional Michael Pitman requested?
“I’ve by no means accomplished that,” stated Stephanie Conrad, who labored as a graduate assistant and athletic coach at San Jose State from 2017 to 2019.
“Are you able to keep in mind in case you ever reached into a lady’s bra and touched her areola or nipple for any purpose in any respect?” he requested.
“I’ve by no means accomplished that,” Conrad stated.
If she ever wanted to get near a delicate space, she stated, she would all the time ask permission.
Conrad’s testimony got here through the first full day of testimony within the federal prison trial in opposition to Scott Shaw, who has maintained he was utilizing legit medical remedy when he touched pupil athletes underneath their bras and underwear throughout remedies. Shaw, 56, resigned from San Jose State in 2020 greater than a decade after 17 feminine swimmers first accused him of sexually assaulting them underneath the guise of remedy. College officers allowed him to proceed treating ladies for one more 11 years after an in-house investigation, which was lambasted as botched in subsequent investigations, cleared Shaw of wrongdoing in 2010.
The scandal turned public in 2020 after swim coach Sage Hopkins, upset that his ongoing considerations have been ignored by college leaders, took his complaints exterior the college. The previous college president and athletic director resigned within the scandal’s aftermath. The college has since paid out greater than $5 million in settlements to victims and was ordered by the U.S. Division of Justice to revamp its Title IX workplace and make different adjustments for athlete security.
Shaw has pleaded not responsible to 6 federal civil rights fees in opposition to him involving 4 ladies who got here ahead since 2017, inside the 5-year statute of limitations, sustaining as he did in 2010 that his ”set off level remedy” was legit medical remedy. In opening statements earlier this week, Shaw’s protection lawyer Dave Callaway instructed jurors that the accusations in opposition to Shaw have been fanned by “group chemistry” amongst feminine athletes supporting one another and rethinking their previous interactions with Shaw.
Below cross examination by co-defense lawyer Jeremy Clean, Conrad acknowledged that she spoke with Hopkins, the swim coach, usually and was conscious that he was not, as Clean stated, “a fan of Scott Shaw.” The ladies’s basketball coach, she stated, additionally didn’t need her athletes handled by him, both, however Conrad didn’t clarify why.
Conrad stated that she had heard rumors about previous accusations in opposition to Shaw, however acknowledged that she would nonetheless refer athletes to him. She by no means seen any “pink flags” throughout his remedies.
After Clean listed the 4 victims concerned within the fees in opposition to Shaw, Conrad stated that not one of the ones she knew ever expressed considerations about Shaw.
“You by no means heard anyone complain about Scott Shaw’s remedy, did you?” Clean requested.
“No,” she stated.
The trial will resume Thursday afternoon when one other athletic coach will take the stand.
