Peters accused to sexual abuse

Former US Olympic gymnastics coach Don Peters could face a lifetime ban from the sport over claims he sexually abused young athletes in the 1980s, The Orange County Register reported Sunday.

Doe Yamashiro, a former member of the US national team, told the newspaper that Peters fondled her when she was 16 and made persistent advances until she had sex with him when she was 17 and he was 38.

"That incident I had a very strong emotional reaction to," Yamashiro said. "That was a real physical violation and I was disgusted."

Another gymnast Peters coached, who refused to be named, claimed she had sex with him when she was 18 despite him knowing she had been sexually abused by a parent.

"I would include him in the people who have taken advantage of me," the woman said. "I was vulnerable and he knew that, and he really preys upon that kind of person."

A third woman, Linda McNamara, told the newspaper that Peters admitted to her in the 1990s that he had sex with both the women making the claims, as well as a third teen gymnast.

McNamara worked as a former assistant director at SCATS gymnastics club in Huntington Beach, which Peters built into a major force, producing a number of Olympians and national champions.

Yamashiro and McNamara said they reported Peters to USA Gymnastics, and the sport's national governing body was investigating the claims.

An attorney for Peters, Kevin O'Connell, sent the Register an email that read, "Doe Yamashiro is not a victim of repressed memory and never wanted this matter to become public. The other incidents you have alleged are wrong. [The Register's] knowledge of the allegations and conduct of USA Gymnastics is an invasion of Mr. Peters' privacy."