In the lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Denver, the four women accused Jean Lopez, 44, the longtime Olympic taekwondo coach, and his brother Steven, 39, one of the most decorated athletes in the sports history, of using their power and influence to coerce them into sex acts. Officials at t
S., banned Jean Lopez for life from associating with Olympic organizations for an incident of sexual misconduct involving a minor, according to the organizations website. According to the lawsuit, the Center for SafeSports written opinion justifying the ban asserted a decades long pattern of sexu
siblings of Americas first family of taekwondo, as they are known in their sport. Jean Lopez has coached Team USA at the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics, as well as at many other international competitions, while Steven Lopez is a five-time Olympian with two gold medals and five world titles.
The allegations against the Lopez brothers date from June 1997, when former Team USA athlete Mandy Meloon alleges Jean Lopez assaulted her one night after a competition in Cairo, Egypt. Meloon, who was 15 at the time, alleges that Jean Lopez entered her hotel room, climbed into bed with her, and she
Olympic team, the USOC forced athletes to participate in competitions, giving predator coaches like Jean Lopez and athletes like Steve Lopez an opportunity to sexual assault these young females, said Indianapolis attorney Jon Little, who is representing Meloon and the others, in a statement.
Another former Team USA athlete, Heidi Gilbert, accused Jean Lopez of drugging her drink at a party after a 2003 competition in Germany, and of sexually assaulting her later that night. Gilbert reported the incident in 2015 to USA Taekwondo, the lawsuit states, but an investigation was put on hold d