UMBC accused of not protecting student athletes from sexual abuse, discrimination by swim coach

BALTIMORE - An explosive report from the Department of Justice accused University of Maryland, Baltimore County administrators of turning a blind eye to sexual assaults and harassment of student-athletes.

The Title IX investigation alleged the former head swimming and diving coach of abusing students for years. You can read it in full here.

WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren spoke to Rignal Baldwin V, an attorney who represents six of the victims.

"Powerful people at that university knew and did nothing about it. Beyond that, it looks like they acted to cover it up and silence the people who spoke up about it," Baldwin said. 

Several lawsuits are still pending. 

The allegations centered around Chad Cradock who served as the head swimming and diving coach for UMBC for decades. 

The Department of Justice report stated he was known as "Mr. UMBC" and was so influential that university officials "…allowed [him] to do as he pleased without consequence, including engaging in physical sexual assaults and sex discrimination against his student-athletes."

Cradock committed suicide in 2021, according to federal officials, five days after receiving a detailed accounting of the allegations.

He spoke to the school newspaper in 2018 about why he loved his job.

"What I like and enjoy is watching young men and women grow to be leaders. I think that's the ultimate goal of what I'm looking for—for them to leave this program and be able to pursue something greater than what the program is itself," the coach said at the time. 

After an exhaustive investigation into abuses as far back as 2015, federal investigators determined Cradock created a "hypersexualized environment" where he touched the genitals of male athletes, massaged them, kissed them, watched them urinate, invited them to private sleepovers at his home and demanded to know every intimate detail of their sex lives. 

The report said women were considered second class and subjected to name calling and body shaming. It accused Coach Cradock of encouraging female athletes to have sexual relationships with male athletes, blamed them if those relationships turned abusive, and he and others failed to report multiple sexual assaults. 

Baldwin said he believes the victims could number in the thousands, "As long as he delivered winning results, he was able to treat the school as his sick playground, and that's outrageous."

UMBC President Dr. Valerie Sheares Ashby apologized in a recorded statement.

She took over leadership of the school in 2022, after the abuses.

"To those who were harmed, I am deeply sorry, I am immensely grateful for your courage and strength in speaking out," Dr. Shears Ashby said. 

She also told the campus, "These students deserved better. Let me be very clear, we take full responsibility for what happened, and I am committed to addressing these failures through our words and actions.

The report stated multiple administrators knew about the brazen sexual offenses and did nothing, even protecting Coach Cradock and covering up for him when he was accused of hiding a camera in the men's locker room.

It also said the school ignored student complaints including one who wrote, "He is a real creep and makes us students uncomfortable. Help!"

Federal investigators said students feared losing their athletic careers, scholarships, housing and being ostracized on campus if they dared to challenge Cradock.

"If you rebuked the advances, or reported his behavior, no one would believe you, and he could ruin your life at the university," the report stated.

"Nothing is more important than the well being of our students. We will never lose sight of that again," Dr. Sheares Ashby said. "You have my word."

Baldwin told WJZ, "We should be watching very, very closely to make sure that the verbal apology is followed up by real reform and real action."

A forum is set for next month to talk about Title IX protections at the school.