SafeSport knew of allegations against former cop before hiring him as investigator

People at the U.S. Center for SafeSport knew a former police officer was the subject of an internal investigation at his former job but hired him anyway, according to details released Wednesday by Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is looking into the matter.

Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter this week to the center’s CEO, Ju’Riese Colon, asking more questions about why the organization hired Jason Krasley as an investigator even though it had knowledge of his potential legal trouble.

“You conceded that this was ‘concerning information’ but hired him nonetheless after being unable to ascertain additional information,” Grassley wrote to Colon, who had revealed that information to the senator in response to his original request in February, which stemmed from reporting by The Associated Press about Krasley’s arrests.

“I find this deeply troubling,” Grassley wrote.

Krasley has been charged with multiple sex crimes, including rape, sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, from episodes that occurred during his time at the Allentown, Pennsylvania, police department, and before he was hired by the center in 2021.

The center, which investigates sex-abuse cases in Olympic sports, fired Krasley in November, two months after learning of allegations that he stole money the Allentown police vice team had seized in a drug bust. Later came Krasley’s arrest for alleged sex crimes and, in June 2024, an arrest for harassment that was resolved in December.

Grassley’s letter recounts what Colon wrote to him: that one of Krasley’s references during the hiring process “shared with you that he was the subject of an internal investigation by the Allentown police department.” The case, the letter said, was based on statements from an alleged victim that the person later recanted.

The center provided the AP with its response to Grassley, dated March 14, in which Colon writes that the case has triggered several changes in the center’s vetting process. Under the new rules, she wrote, “this disclosure would have raised a red flag and prompted additional scrutiny into the alleged conduct that led to the internal investigation.”

Colon outlined enhancements of the center’s code of ethics and the addition of an ethics clause that employees must adhere to. She said she is now personally interviewing all final candidates for jobs and that the center plans to contract with an outside consultant to review its recruiting and hiring process.

She also said the center now checks the National Decertification Index (NDI), which keeps track of discipline related to officer misconduct.

The center’s letter said Krasley handled 124 cases, 15 of which were open when he was terminated.

The center said there were no complaints of sexual misconduct while Krasley worked there.

The former police officer is free on bail awaiting trial. His attorney has asserted his client’s innocence in the sex-crime cases, which date to 2015, most recently calling them “meritless and uncorroborated allegations from drug-addled and impaired prostitutes.”

The center has also hired a third-party firm to reach out to people whose cases were handled by Krasley.

That carried potential to retraumatize victims, one of whom, Jacqui Stevenson, told the AP the center’s outreach about a case that had long been resolved triggered “a total panic attack.”

In her letter, Colon explained that the two-month delay in firing Krasley was because of a concerted effort not to take steps that would compromise the criminal investigation — reasoning that did not sway Grassley.

“I imagine you appreciate that impressions regarding SafeSport’s judgment in hiring and firing decisions impact impressions of SafeSport’s ability to properly investigate and resolve allegations of misconduct in the sports community,” Grassley wrote.

Grassley sent a separate letter to the center’s chair, April Holmes, saying there “appears to be a lack of oversight by the Board to adequately supervise the CEO … and other officers and directors in their duties to the organization.”

The senator questioned whether an increase in funding — something Colon has asked for — from its current budget of around $21 million a year would solve its problems, some of which he suggested are rooted in the complex nature of resolving sex-abuse allegations.

He said “there is concern that SafeSport is not prioritizing serious sexual and child abuse cases over other cases, which is causing more serious cases to languish without proper investigation.”

There was criticism of the center’s spending, including its $2.4 million in billing for legal services in 2023.

Also, Grassley pointed out $50,000 on dues and subscriptions, $36,000 on bank fees and credit cards and more than $390,000 on travel, all “expenses that seem excessive for a non-profit organization and financial decisions that seem counter-productive to the organization.”

Grassley asked Holmes to answer a series of questions, including how the board determined salaries for executives, including Colon, who made more than $400,000 in 2023, which included a $58,000 bonus.

Holmes said the board received the letter and would respond by Grassley’s May 1 deadline.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports