Oct 11, 2022Former California Student-Athletes Accuse ATC of Sexual Abuse
Six former high school student-athletes have accused their former football athletic trainer of sexually abusing them more than two decades ago.
The claims come from former students of Colton High School in California and center around athletic trainer Tiffany Strauss-Gordon, who worked under her father, Harold Strauss, an acclaimed football coach in the community.
A recent report from ABC-7 detailed the accusations from former high school student-athletes. Below is an excerpt from the ABC-7 report.
“This was an open secret. The high school students at Colton and their staff had a name for her sexual abuse of these children,” said attorney Mike Reck with Jeff Anderson and Associates.
Reck and Jemma Dunn with Greenberg Gross are representing the former players who have filed a lawsuit against Strauss-Gordon and Colton Joint Unified School District.
In the lawsuit, it claims: “Gordon’s sexual assaults occurred throughout Colton High School’s campus, including in the locker room, training room, bathrooms, weight room, and football trailer.”
Strauss-Gordon is the daughter of legendary high school football coach Harold Strauss, and was the team’s trainer during her father’s tenure.
“If the roles were reversed the story would be very different. Nobody would be questioning whether this was an assault. There would be people in jail,” Dunn said. “I mean there would be an uproar.”
During one encounter, the lawsuit states, that “Under the guise of providing medical treatment and physical therapy, Gordon took advantage of John Doe 7042 during treatments and sexually assaulted him ….”
Attorneys for the players who are all identified as John Does say the behavior was allowed and even referred to as getting “Tiffany’s special treatment.”
Strauss-Gordon’s attorney disputes the claims, questioning why the alleged victims are only now stepping forward more than 20 years later, adding his client has not been criminally charged.
To read the full story from ABC-7 about the accused California athletic trainer, click here.
