A former San Jose State University (SJSU) director of sports activities drugs pleaded responsible at present within the Northern District of California for unlawfully touching feminine student-athletes underneath the guise of offering medical therapy.

As a part of the plea settlement, Scott Shaw admitted that, between 2017 and 2020, he violated the civil rights of 4 college students who performed on ladies’s athletics groups by touching their breasts and buttocks with out their consent and with no respectable medical function.

According to paperwork filed in reference to the plea settlement, from 2008 till August 2020, Shaw served because the director of sports activities drugs and head athletic coach at SJSU, a public college that’s a part of the California State University system and was an worker of the State of California. His duties included treating accidents sustained by student-athletes at SJSU.

During the autumn semester of 2017, Shaw handled I.S., a member of the ladies’s water polo staff. On one event whereas treating I.S., Shaw started massaging the again of her shoulder and neck, after which he moved his fingers down and touched her breast.

During the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 educational years, Shaw handled J.M., a member of the ladies’s water polo staff. While doing so on one event, Shaw utilized strain to each side of her neck and labored his fingers right down to her chest, after which he touched her breast, together with her areola, underneath her clothes together with his naked hand. On one other event whereas treating J.M.’s again, Shaw touched her buttocks underneath her clothes together with his naked hand.

During the spring semester of 2019, Shaw handled A.L., a member of the ladies’s water polo staff.  Shaw handled A.L. to handle an damage to her shoulder, and whereas treating A.L.’s damage, he touched her breast underneath her clothes together with his naked hand.

During the 2019-2020 educational yr, Shaw handled Ok.B., a member of the ladies’s soccer staff, on two events. On one event, Ok.B. sought therapy for again ache, and, whereas analyzing her backbone, Shaw touched her breasts, after which he touched her buttocks. On one other event, Ok.B. sought help in making use of electrotherapy patches generally known as “stim pads” to deal with her again ache, and Shaw touched her buttocks underneath her clothes together with his naked fingers whereas putting the stim pads.

According to paperwork filed in reference to the plea settlement, Shaw admitted that he engaged in all the conduct described above on SJSU’s campus in San Jose, California, and in his capability as a SJSU athletic coach, and the student-athletes solely allowed him to have bodily contact with them due to his standing as a SJSU Athletic Trainer. Shaw additionally admitted that he touched every of the student-athletes as described above with none respectable diagnostic or therapy function, and with out looking for or securing their consent upfront. Shaw additional admitted that his conduct was not the results of mistake, carelessness, or accident. 

“Scott Shaw abused his position of trust and authority as a public university official to sexually assault female student-athletes who entrusted him with their medical care,” stated Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “No student-athlete should ever be subject to sexual harassment at the hands of their sports medicine director, coach or any other official at a college or university. This egregious conduct violates federal law, and the Justice Department will aggressively prosecute individuals who exploit their positions of authority to sexually abuse our community members. We stand with the survivors and thank them for their courage and willingness to support the government’s prosecution of this defendant.”

“Shaw now has acknowledged his guilt and has admitted the conduct that resulted in the charges that were filed against him,” stated First Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Robbins for the Northern District of California. “We hope his guilty plea and conviction bring some level of solace to his victims, and we now look to sentencing which will be a major step toward bringing this matter to a conclusion.”

“The defendant in this case used his position as an athletic trainer to commit acts of abuse against multiple female athletes who came to him for care,” stated Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “Today’s guilty plea shows that the FBI will not tolerate violations of civil rights under the guise of legitimate medical treatment.”

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 14. Shaw faces a most penalty of 1 yr in jail for every rely, a most of 1 yr of supervised launch for every rely and a high-quality of as much as $100,000 on every rely.

The FBI San Francisco Field Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Pitman for the Northern District of California, and Trial Attorney MarLa Duncan and Attorney Advisor Sarah Howard of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.