An up-and-coming soccer star flooded with top-notch scholarship presents left the game for good after he allegedly endured hazing from teammates so pervasive and merciless that he tried to finish his life, in accordance with a bombshell $100 million lawsuit.
Jeff Dewsnup, now 22, was simply 17 when he performed goalkeeper for Actual Salt Lake within the United Soccer League, and repeatedly confronted puerile taunts from his grownup staff members, who ridiculed the dimensions of his penis, waved their genitals at him and pelted his rear-end with soccer balls, the swimsuit alleges.
Regardless of being courted with scholarship presents from elite colleges like Stanford, Columbia, Princeton and Wake Forest, and curiosity from professional groups like Fulham, Crystal Palace and PSV Eindhoven, the alleged abuse acquired so unhealthy he give up the game he liked in April 2022.
His swimsuit, filed final week in Utah’s Third District Court docket towards RSL, the US Soccer Federation and Main League Soccer, claims he now suffers from PTSD and can want $20 million value of psychiatric care to place his life again collectively.
The extra $80 million he’s looking for is to compensate him for the skilled profession he misplaced on account of the abuse.
“Plaintiff seeks to carry defendants accountable for … committing intentional acts of abuse that destroyed [his] profession and triggered him to aim suicide,” learn the lawsuit obtained by DailyMail.
Dewsnup comes from a rich and profitable household, who owns 2,221 acres of land within the Utah mountains valued at some $1.2 million.
His sister, Abby Johnson, is a well-liked creator of Mormon-themed literature, and his father, Darin, is managing director for investments at Wells Fargo’s Salt Lake Metropolis workplace with over $2 billion in property beneath administration.
Among the many salacious allegations within the swimsuit had been that older RSL teammates tormented him within the locker room, exposing themselves and making sexual feedback towards the then-teen.
“They repeatedly tried to hit [Dewsnup’s] bare buttocks with a ball, laughing and taunting him when he expressed discomfort. [Dewsnup] was compelled to dodge the ball whereas bare,” the grievance reads, noting the abuse was so pervasive he would wait as much as two hours after practices to make use of the showers to keep away from his teammates.
The swimsuit additionally complains that coaches had been a part of the issue, and regularly taunted him in entrance of the staff for nursing an injured shoulder, which Dewsnup mentioned he was compelled to play with, exacerbating the damage.
RSL’s goalkeeping coach Ignacio Hernandez allegedly “mishandled” Dewsnup’s foot and hip accidents, the swimsuit claims.
One of many allegations within the swimsuit is that RSL didn’t adequately shield an underage participant from grotesque sexual abuse by the hands of much-older teammates.
“RSL positioned its personal monetary and reputational pursuits above [Dewsnup’s] security, deliberately sacrificing a minor youngster’s effectively being to keep away from the inconvenience and expense of implementing youngster safety measures,” the lawsuit particulars.
Simply earlier than he give up the staff in April 2022, Dewsnup tried to kill himself over the trauma and was rushed to a hospital, in accordance with courtroom paperwork.
RSL has denied the allegations and claimed the staff took the security of its gamers “extraordinarily severely.”
“The membership is conscious of a grievance filed by a former skilled participant and firmly denies the allegations,” it mentioned in a press release to the Mail, pledging to “vigorously defend itself by the authorized course of.”
MLS instructed the outlet it was reviewing the “severe” allegations, and that “participant security and well-being are core priorities for the League.”
