U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee fires coach, director over sexual abuse allegations of young biathlete

Gary Colliander has been accused of sexually abusing Grace Boutot to the point that she attempted suicide

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has fired coach Gary Colliander and director Eileen Carey following a report by the Associated Press that outlined Colliander's alleged sexual abuse of biathlete Grace Boutot. A spokesman for the committee did not publicly provide a reason for either man's firing, saying only that Colliander had been placed on administrative leave from the Paralympic team in December.

According to the AP, Colliander was accused of sexually abusing Boutot, who he coached in biathlon at the Maine Winter Sports Center, over a four-year period from 2006 to 2010 that began when she was 15 years old. While the alleged misconduct began as inappropriate touching, things escalated when Boutot turned 18 to "kissing, sexual fondling and oral sex." Boutot allegedly "begged" Colliander to stop, but her objections were ignored.

Boutot then became severely depressed and began cutting herself, leading to her therapist Jacqueline Pauli-Ritz contacting Colliander directly to tell him in September 2010 that Boutot was suffering from major depression and that he should stop coaching her. Colliander stopped coaching Boutot only after she attempted suicide by overdosing on antidepressants on Oct. 7, 2010 during a Utah training camp, according to the report. Colliander resigned the next day, but was later hired by the U.S. Paralympic Team in December 2016 and became associate director of high performance for U.S. Paralympics nordic skiing.

Carey, the Maine center's vice president at the time of the abuse, had repeated discussions over the situation with Boutot's mother via email along with center CEO Andy Shepard, but no investigation into Colliander's behavior was allegedly ever conducted. In 2011, Boutot filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission accusing the center of not only failing to prevent Colliander's sexual misconduct, but also of retaliating against her when she reported it by denying her coaching and other competition-related expenses. The center would settle for $75,000 later that year.

Carey left the Maine center in December 2010, becoming a coach before being promoted to director of the Paralympic team.

Boutot, now 34, was among half a dozen Olympians and other biathletes who came forward following an Associated Press report last year that chronicled the years-long sexual abuse and harassment of former Olympian Joanne Reid, who was repeatedly subject to sexual harassment and unwanted sexual contact by a ski-wax technician. Reid's case was reported to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which was created to investigate allegations of sexual abuse in Olympic sports following a highly publicized case involving former U.S. women's gymnastics team doctor and sexual predator Larry Nassar, who used his position to sexually abuse hundreds of young girls under the guise of medical treatment.

Colliander's case remains active with SafeSport, though his lawyer told the Associated Press that Colliander "adamantly denies any wrongdoing or inappropriate behavior."