A former Olympian and track coach accused of sexually abusing boys in the 1970s was sentenced to up to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to assault charges.
Conrad Mainwaring, 72, pleaded guilty Feb. 8 to 14 charges of indecent assault and battery in connection with the sexual abuse of nine youth at a sports camp in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, more than four decades ago.
However, “the total number of Conrad Mainwaring victims remains unknown,” the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Mainwaring, who represented Antigua and Barbuda in track and field in the 1976 Summer Olympics, had a career coaching track at various educational institutions and camps.
After the Olympics, he worked at Camp Greylock for Boys between 1976 and 1979, where “the defendant is confirmed to have sexually abused nine children,” the district attorney’s office said.
Camp Greylock did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment Wednesday night.
Prosecutors alleged Mainwaring used his Olympic credentials to groom boys and made them believe that the sexual assault would make them better athletes, The Associated Press reported. The victims ranged in age from 13 to 19.
“He used his Olympic status to abuse young boys,” District Attorney Timothy Shugrue told the court. “He chose young, attractive, athletic boys, young men because he knew, at least he thought he knew, they would not speak up. This was his opportunity for self-gratification, a fraud at the expense of many, many lives.”
Some of the survivors addressed Mainwaring at Thursday’s hearing.
“The trauma from that has caused my life to be full of darkness, sadness and devoid of hope. I’ve suffered so much for so many years,” John Shapiro said, describing how he was abused at the Massachusetts camp, according to The Associated Press.
“Too painful to describe and too tortuous to put into words, but I’m making an attempt here and now. My life has never been the same since that first fateful time he sexually abused me at Greylock,” he said.
Mainwaring did not say anything to the survivors.
The district attorney’s office began to investigate Mainwaring after ESPN reported on his abuse in August 2019. That report alleged Mainwaring had abused over 50 young boys and men from the 1970s through 2016.
He was indicted by a grand jury in Berkshire Superior Court in January 2021. He was arrested in 2021 on a fugitive warrant as he left a Los Angeles County courthouse after entering a plea in a separate case, was transferred to Berkshire County and was arraigned in March that year.
Mainwaring will serve his sentences concurrently in state prison for up to 11 years, followed by three years probation. NBC News reached out to his attorney for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Shugrue said the guilty plea and sentencing is just “partial justice.”
“I say partial justice because we know the Defendant had victims far beyond those named in today’s case who have not had the opportunity to seek justice in a court of law,” Shugrue said in his statement.
“I have been humbled by the bravery of the survivors in this case. They have carried the burden of abuse without justice since the 1970s,” he continued. “Without the survivors, their families, and the dedication of ESPN’s investigative journalists we would not have reached this successful conclusion today.”
Mainwaring has been accused of abuse in other jurisdictions as well.
His abuse was alleged in a civil suit filed in 2020 against Syracuse University and Camp Greylock. At least 22 men have described being abused by Mainwaring when he was at Syracuse, ESPN reported.
Syracuse said it was not aware of allegations against Mainwaring until after ESPN published its report, the outlet said. The university also said at the time the lawsuit was filed that it conducted a review and was unable to locate or identify anyone who reported the alleged abuse to school officials when it occurred, according to ESPN.
The case is ongoing, according to the AP.
Mainwaring had also been arrested in Los Angeles in June 2019 on one count of sexual battery by fraud, accused of molesting a then-20-year-old college student training under him in 2016.
The LAPD said at the time that the abuse took place “under the guise of physical therapy and mental focus training.” ABC reported that Mainwaring pleaded no contest and was given probation in the L.A. case.
