Jancy Thompson Norman Havercroft: Swimmer Jancy Thompson Sues USA Swimming Coach Havercroft

Jancy Thompson, a swimmer with USA Swimming has filed a sexual harrassment and abuse lawsuit against one of the organization's swim coaches, Norman Havercroft, and the governing body of USA Swimming. If you are the parent of a competitive swimmer, you will want to see the video below.  See update below:

Thompson charges "groping," "engaging in sexual acts," "providing pornography" and "buying an Internet camera for cyber sex." Sounds like rape or attempted rape to me. Thompson was 15 when the behavior began and continued until age 18 on the premises of several swim clubs, in Havercroft's and her own home for a period of 5 years. The suit also alleges another female as abused and that USA Swimming was aware of it and did nothing.

"I was robbed of my childhood and never performed to my full capabilities," she told the Associated Press. "I want to ensure that no one has to endure what I went through and carry such a burden the rest of their lives."

...the San Jose Police Department and the Santa Clara County district attorney's office investigated claims of abuse by the other female and brought no criminal charges against Havercroft. 

ESPN Swimming reports the case of the second female charging abuse ended in a confidential settlement.

The suit announced Wednesday is one of several around the country alleging USA Swimming covered up wrongdoing and allowed a culture of abuse to exist in coaching ranks. The lawsuit also names the West Valley Swim Club and Pacific Swimming, the West Coast branch of USA Swimming....

The swim club is scrambling to add new protective measures for their swimmers. No word on whether or not Havercroft is still an employee of USA Swimming.

Update 8/14/10:
After posting this article a few more details have been made public.

Her coach even humiliated her at practice by making her wear a dog collar with a leash attached to it, which her coach held while she swam laps at the pool, Thompson says.

The Problem with Swim Coaches (video)

Prudential Financial MetLife Denies Safety and Reasonable Interest Rates to Families with Deceased Military

Prudential Financial, Inc. "handles life insurance for the Department of Veterans Affairs. A Maryland mother received a package with information about her son's $400,000 account after his death in Afghanistan. Inside was what looked like a checkbook and a letter saying the money would be held in an interest-bearing account to give her time to decide what to do with the money. The short story is that the checkbook was not a checkbook. It was a draft, and once executed, Prudential Financial had to deposit funds into a Chase bank account before she could receive the money. The interest payment on the money was far below normal and the money is not held in a FDIC account. MetLife is involved in similar tactics. The bottom line, those grieving for their loved ones should move the money to their own FDIC, interest bearing account. How much has Prudential and MetLife made off of the death of soldiers, and how much has the cheated the families lost.

Prudential Financial and MetLife Scam Military Families

Prudential holds the money in it's Alliance Account. They tell survivors the money is put in a secure account. Neither Prudential nor MetLife Inc, the largest life insurer in the U.S., segregates death benefits into a separate fund.

Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential, the second-largest life insurer, holds payouts in its own general account, according to regulatory filings.

 ...the company [MetLife] was paying some survivors 0.5 percent in July while some others got 1.5 percent or 3 percent, depending on the age and origin of insurance accounts. The accounts don’t violate any laws, Madden says, and are authorized by New York state insurance law.

Insurance companies -- in addition to holding onto the money of survivors, paying them uncompetitive interest rates and giving them misleading guarantees -- may be violating a federal bank law. A 1933 statute makes it a felony for any company to accept deposits without state or federal authorization.

“There’s more than $25 billion out there in these accounts,” Baxter says. “A run could be triggered immediately by one insurance company not being able to honor its payout. The whole point of creating the FDIC was to put an end to bank runs.”

This type of "retained asset account" does not affect only military benefits. The retained asset account was "invented" to pay the insurer. These accounts can pay the insurer 1 to 3 points more than it pays out to survivors. There are so many of these accounts that state regulators cannot keep up with them, and other banks are involved. Read the whole story here.

Obamas at Bar Harbor Club Shuts Down Vacationers

In Bar Harbon, Maine where the Obama Family vacationed, other "regular people" were not allowed to visit one of the most popular features of the area. At low tide, tourists can walk across the sand bar to Bar Island...unless the vacationing Obama's are in town and playing tennis or romping in the pool at the Bar Harbor Club (see photo).

I believe any President and family must be able to travel and have some fun, but we saw the Obama's in Hawaii, one of the top vacation spots on everybody's radar, renting a home that was a bit in the middle of the activity. The many people who came to the beach could not participate in their own vacations. I would like to see presidents pick a spot a bit more isolated for their entourage so not quite so many people are inconvenienced.

This particular First Family ignores that they are servants of the people, not the rulers of the people.

Baby Thrown on Brick Sidewalk by Mother (Video)

In the video taken in Australia, a woman said to be the baby's mother, throws the 10-month-old child to the sidewalk. The baby lands on its back with it's head hitting the ground.

It's the usual story. The woman claimed she was drunk and upset at her partner...so the only thing to do was sling her baby to a brick sidewalk. You'll see someone try to take the child from her. No clue who the person is, or what has happened, or will happen to the mother. Also, no word on injuries to the child.

Mother Throws Baby on a Brick Sidewalk (video)

Earl Bradley is Pediatric Pedophile? Pediatrician Earl Bradley is a rapist?

Warning: this is a vile story. Dr. Earl Bradley is a Delaware pediatrician charged with pedophilia.  He has been indicted by a grand jury and charged with multiple acts of child rape and abuse - in what may be the worst case of pedophilia in U.S. history.

 Earl Bradley

Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, the son of Vice President Joe Biden, says he expects more victims to come forward. Bradley, 46, is facing 471 separate counts of sexual assault and molestation. Over a ten year period, Bradley is believed to have raped and sexually exploited 102 girls and one boy since 1998 at the office of BayBees Pediatric in Lewes, Delaware, a community of 1300 persons.

The charges include first-degree and second-degree rape, unlawful sexual contact, sexual exploitation of a child and continuing sexual abuse of a child.

The indictment cites videos Bradley made of the various abusive incidents, which were seized from his office after investigators began looking into reports of child abuse last year.

Bradley allegedly videotaped sex acts while parents waiting in a separate room.

Among the 471-count indictment includes allegations that Bradley forced children to perform sex acts on him as recently as Dec. 13.

Some of the children were allegedly molested continuously over a series of days or months. One victim was allegedly raped by Bradley from June 2007 until February 2009, and another was molested "continuously" between November 2008 until November 2009.

 Biden said that some of the alleged victims were just months old.

The abuse of a 2-year-old girl started the investigation.

According to court documents obtained by ABCNews.com, the investigation was spurred after a 2-year-old girl told her mother that Bradley had touched her genitals and "hurt her" during a Dec. 7 appointment.

According to the child's mother, who is not named in the court documents, Bradley first examined the toddler in her presence, but then "removed the victim to the basement of the office, where a toy room is located."

The mother told authorities that she permitted her daughter to be alone with Bradley "because of his position as a doctor" and because she "trusted him."

But on the way home from the doctor the mother alleges that her daughter said Bradley had sexually abused her while they were alone in the basement. The girl's father, who had taken to her to a previous appointment with Bradley, also told authorities his daughter had made a similar complaint to him in November.

 In the small town of Lewes, with a citizenry of only 1,300, a videotape shows this 6 foot, 225-pound man yell, violently, at a two-year old, demanding the child to "perform sexual acts on him."

That particular video was described by the investigating officer in court documents as "one of the most violent and brutal attacks on a child of any age" that he had ever seen.

Biden's office is dealing with questions  as to why complaints dating from 2005 against Bradley were not taken to the State Board of Medical Practice.  An investigation is ongoing.

Earl Bradley is being held in the Vaughn Correctional Center on $2.9 million cash bond.