US Center for SafeSport Hires Ex-Police Officer Accused of Theft – East Bay Times

DENVER — The US Center for SafeSport abruptly fired one of its investigators last month after learning he had been arrested for stealing money seized from a drug bust he was part of during his previous job as a police officer .

Jason Krasley left his job with the Allentown Police Department in Pennsylvania in 2021 and was hired by the SafeSport center in Denver to investigate sensitive cases involving sexual abuse and harassment.

Among Krasley’s cases was one with Sean McDowell, who filed a report with the center accusing a member of his recreational rugby club in Seattle of stalking and harassment. McDowell said it took the center, which has had trouble handling complaints in a timely manner, about eight weeks to assign an investigator to the case.

That investigator turned out to be Krasley, who stopped responding to emails from McDowell a few weeks after they first spoke. At the time, McDowell received a terse email from the center’s deputy director of investigations, Daniel Kast, who said he was “writing to inform you that Jason Krasley is no longer employed” by the center and that he would be assigned a new investigator.

McDowell did some digging and saw news reports that Krasley had been arrested and charged with theft and receiving stolen property for allegedly stealing $5,500 that was seized from a drug bust in Allentown in 2019. Criminal record of Pennsylvania has not yet been resolved.

“I went back and double checked. It was just disbelief, because I’m thinking, ‘There’s no way this is the same guy,'” McDowell said. “I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it because it seems so far from their stated mission.”

The center struggled to keep up

The SafeSport Center was established in 2017 to deal with sexual misconduct, harassment and similar cases in Olympic-related sports from elite to grassroots level.

At last count, it had around 77 staff in its response and resolution team – 36 of whom are part of the centre’s investigative team – and the center was receiving around 155 reports a week. While not every report ends up as a fully investigated case, the numbers speak to a growing catalog of cases that the agency, with an annual budget of about $21 million, is tasked with solving.

Embedded in this problem are the challenges that come with finding qualified investigators to ask sensitive questions of both accusers and those accused of wrongdoing. The center said it hires subject matter experts from a variety of sources, including law enforcement, child protective services, Title IX and other relevant fields.

“While we value our relationship with law enforcement, no one is above the law,” center CEO Ju’Riese Colon said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press.

The center said it conducts multiple interviews and a “comprehensive background check” on potential hires by an independent third party “known nationally for its candidate screening and screening work.” Each year, the center conducts a criminal background and sex offense search for active employees.

“As CEO, I am deeply disappointed that a former staff member has been accused of such misconduct,” Colon said. “We are taking this matter seriously and are evaluating the situation to determine what, if any, additional vetting could have prevented this individual from being eligible for employment.”

20 years of law enforcement

Public records show Krasley worked as a detective/task force officer for Allentown police from 2002-21. His arrest in 2024 came more than five years after the alleged theft.

It stemmed from a May 2019 drug bust at a barbershop where police seized cocaine and $16,000 in cash.

The grand jury presentment that led to the arrest revealed that Krasley was one of the officers who counted the money and was later in the van where it was stored. Back at the station, when some of the money went missing, Krasley became argumentative and refused to submit to a personal search, according to the filing.

Krasley did not respond to emails and text messages from the AP seeking comment.

What about Krasley’s cases?

Krasley’s arrest and firing from the center raises the question of what to do with the cases he handled during his time as an investigator there. The center did not provide a specific number of cases treated by Krasley.

Among those whose cases have been assigned to the ex-policeman is Kirsten Hawkes, a fencer who has had multiple frustrations with the center after reporting an allegation that a former coach of hers forcibly kissed her after a meeting at a hotel bar.

Hawkes said Krasley was very understanding of her situation when they met and “would call me and talk about other things, like family or other cases. We talk for hours.”

Hawkes said she was grateful someone listened to her after her traumatic episode. But she also described Krasley as overly eager to settle the case once it went to arbitration and unwilling to consider her allegations of abuse against the same person since Hawkes was a child.

When Hawkes heard that Krasley had been arrested and fired, she began to question whether her case and others had been handled properly.

“They have the resources to call a police department and say, ‘Hey, we’re hiring him for a semi-government job handling sensitive information, should we know anything?'” Hawkes said. “They might not show up on a background check, but they should at least do their due diligence to dig a little further.

“It puts everything under a different lens, completely.”

The center said it is reviewing cases involving Krasley and currently has no indication that any of them were mistreated. He contracts with an outside firm to audit his cases.

The accuser questions SafeSport

Since Krasley’s dismissal, McDowell, the rugby player, has had his case reassigned to a new investigator who he said has “been good” so far.

However, the clock is ticking. The 34-year-old says he was retaliated against and suspended by his Seattle rugby team after he asked leaders to take action against the person he said was stalking him. Retaliation included sending details of his case to another rugby club in San Francisco, which also tried to prevent him from playing.

“Because of this smear campaign, people are hostile to me,” McDowell said. “What SafeSport Center doesn’t understand is that this is actually my everyday life. It’s not just the people I play rugby with, because word gets around. And they just don’t seem to really care or take it seriously.”

McDowell brought the case in September. Heading into the Christmas break, he says SafeSport Center did not treat his case with urgency and was no further along in resolving his complaint than when he initiated it.

“The feedback from the public seems to be that I’m this beacon of hope and optimism,” McDowell said. “Then every time I read a new story about them, I keep thinking, ‘SafeSport’s actions don’t match any of this.’

Originally published: December 26, 2024 at 10:27 AM PST