Rick Butler, one of America’s most well-known youth volleyball coaches, stands accused of raping hundreds of teenagers under his supervision across a period of more than 30 years

http://usatodayhss.com/2018/volleyball-coach-rick-butler-sexual-assailt

Butler is the longtime figurehead behind the Sports Performance Volleyball Club in Aurora, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The class action suit he now finds himself defending against levies charges that he raped teenage girls who he coached on the summer AAU circuit and other club opportunities

Christine Tuzi says in the lawsuit she was 16 when Butler raped her for the first time. He forced her into “hundreds of unprotected sexual encounters” over the next few years, the suit says, until she became pregnant with his child at the age of 19.

Tuzi told the New York Daily News in 2016 that Butler told her to “get rid of it”after learning she was pregnant. According to the suit, Butler took Tuzi to an abortion clinic, and immediately after the procedure, forced her to masturbate him in a hotel room.

Another young woman, Sarah Powers-Barnhard, says in the lawsuit that Butler began raping her when she was 16. She says the coach forced her to watch pornographic films so she could “learn” from them, and would secretly fondle her in public ― sometimes within “just feet” of her teammates

These stories are, quite naturally, horrific. Yet what’s even worse is that the coach continued to lead his program on the national volleyball and AAU circuits. Now that has come to an end, with Butler banned from AAU competition shortly after he was given the boot by USA Volleyball. Those bans almost certainly came as a result of the lawsuit against Butler, which was filed by Laura Martin, the mother of a player who was allegedly assaulted by Butler across multiple years.

Butler’s suit names multiple alleged victims, while also singling out both Mullin and his wife for their actions, “attempting to conceal a history of sexual abuse while also attempting to intimidate or discredit the accusers.

( sounds like a certain Former First Lady)

For his part, Butler has denied any wrongdoing, insisting that any sexual contact he had with the athletes came after they turned 18, thereby refuting what a number of the victims in the pending case attested to

https://www.thedailybeast.com/rick-butler-volleyball-coach-raped-six-girls-wife-bullied-victims-lawsuit-claims

“Because I can.”

When one of Rick Butler’s young victims first asked why he was assaulting her, that was his answer, according to a new bombshell class-action lawsuit filed against the coach

According to Powers-Barnhard, Butler began inappropriately touching her when she was just 16 years old, on a team trip to Syracuse, New York. He allegedly told her that she needed to “follow me blindly,” kissed her, and fondled her on that same trip.

Days later, he raped her for the first time, according to the complaint.

“She lay motionless in a terrified state. It was painful and resulted in her bleeding,” the lawsuit states. “After, Butler was very angry that she had not enjoyed it.”

Over the following years, Butler allegedly raped her and abused her countless times, all while punishing her on the court and during practice. When he allegedly began raping her teammate, Beth Rose, the lawsuit claims he bragged about how much Powers-Barnhard enjoyed the assaults

The coach’s wife, Cheryl Butler, stands accused of helping her husband hide the alleged rampant abuse by threatening the victims into silence over a span of three decades. Their Chicago-area club, Sports Performance Volleyball Club, is also named as a defendant in the suit.

They have persistently intimidated and attempted to discredit the few of his victims brave enough to come forward by exerting emotional and psychological control over them,” the plaintiffs claim.

USA Volleyball first banned Butler from coaching girls in 1995 following an initial investigation, but that ban was partially lifted in 2000. It was reinstated in January of this year.

Butler is now also banned by Amateur Athletic Union and Junior Volleyball Association

Many of the organizations were initially vague about their bans, but USA Volleyball reportedly later clarified that it “received allegations of sexual misconduct and abusive coaching practices against Mr. Butler,” which caused it to “to bring a disciplinary action” against the formerly renowned coach, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Butler has not been charged with any crimes, and his accusers told the Sun-Times that the relevant statutes of limitations have expired.

.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. So many of these abusers

and why do they do it........Because they can