Former Olympian and longtime track coach Conrad Mainwaring pleads guilty to over a dozen charges of sexually molesting young boys at a sports camp in the 1970s

A former Olympian and longtime track coach will spend as many as 11 years in state prison after pleading guilty to charges of sexually abusing young boys at a sports camp in western Massachusetts in the 1970s, abuse that was uncovered by the emotional testimonies of various victims.

Conrad Mainwaring, who was a hurdler for Antigua and Barbuda at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, faced 12 charges of sexual assault and battery on a child over 14 and four charges of sexual assault and battery on a child in Berkshire Superior Court under 14 years old. The charges involved nine male victims.

“He used his Olympic status to abuse young boys,” prosecutor Timothy Shugrue told the court. “He chose young, attractive, athletic boys, young men because he knew, or at least he thought he knew, that they wouldn’t speak out. This was his chance for self-gratification, a deception that came at the cost of many, many lives.”

In a pattern repeated over the years, Shugrue described case after case in which Mainwaring used his Olympic credentials as part of a grooming technique used on boys attending Camp Greylock, leading the youths to believe that the sexual assault would make them better athletes . The abuse took place in the woods around the camp, including in a van and near a tennis court.

After the details of the cases were presented, Mainwaring, in a wheelchair and wearing a mask, said “yes” when the judge asked him if he had committed the offenses recorded in court. He then said “guilty” after each of the charges was read.

Mainwaring appeared in court on Thursday as several victims gave emotional testimony

He faced 12 charges of sexual assault and battery on a child over the age of 14 and four charges of sexual assault and battery on a child under 14 in Berkshire Superior Court.

Mainwaring, a 72-year-old Los Angeles resident and British citizen, will serve his sentence on multiple charges concurrently. But Judge John Agostini said it was “probably a life sentence” given Mainwaring’s age.

Mainwaring abused campers from 1975 to 1979 while working as a counselor at Camp Greylock in Becket. Authorities have said they believe there are “many other victims” in several states and outside the United States.

Some camp victims – who were as young as 13 and 19 – testified at Thursday’s hearing, recalling the shame and damage the abuse caused them. They addressed Mainwaring directly, calling him a danger to young men. They demanded a long prison sentence, arguing that he should be kept away from boys or young men and that he should not be allowed to coach.

‘It is beyond diabolical, the pain and suffering of so many. That’s why he should be put behind bars and prevented from ever harming anyone again,” said John Shapiro, an entrepreneur and father of three, who told the court how he was abused at the Massachusetts and University camp from Syracuse. chance he will. He has shown no signs of repentance or forgiveness. No. Again, if given the opportunity, Mr. Mainwaring will do this again.”

Shapiro also described the toll the abuse has taken on his life.

‘The trauma of that has left my life full of darkness, sadness and without hope. I suffered for so many years,” Shapiro said. ‘Too painful to describe and too tortuous to put into words, but I’ll try here and now. My life has never been the same since that first fateful time he sexually assaulted me in Greylock.”

Michael Waxman told how he met Mainwaring at the camp forty years ago when he was thirteen. Waxman, a lawyer from Portland, Maine, told the court that at the time he was “overjoyed” that Mainwaring had chosen him and would have followed him to “the ends of the earth” to see the dream of becoming a professional athlete.

“What you did to me had nothing to do with my dream,” he said, confronting Mainwaring for the first time in decades. “It was all about satisfying your perverted sexual needs.”

Judge John Agostini said it was “probably a life sentence” given the 72-year-old’s age

Mainwaring abused campers from 1975 to 1979 while working as a counselor at a camp

Waxman said the abuse left him ashamed and disgusted “for the first time in my life.”

“You stole part of my youth, part of my innocence and frivolity,” he said. “Conrad, I really was a good kid. I didn’t deserve to feel shame. I didn’t deserve to be disgusted with myself. You did that and you still do that. You should be ashamed.’

As the victims read their statements, Mainwaring mostly stared at the ground or twiddled his thumbs. He said nothing directly to the victims.

Massachusetts authorities began investigating Mainwaring after a 2019 ESPN report in which more than fifty men claimed they had been abused by him, some of them at Camp Greylock. He was arrested in 2021 on a fugitive warrant as he left a Los Angeles County courthouse after taking a plea in a separate 2019 case.

“Everyone who brought Conrad Mainwaring to justice deserves our gratitude, including the law enforcement officers, the district attorney, the reporters at ESPN, and especially the courageous men who shared their stories deserve the most gratitude,” said Saul Wolf, an attorney whose office represents seven representatives. victims and filed lawsuits against Syracuse University in New York, the Syracuse school district and the camp in Massachusetts.

“Now that Mainwaring plans to plead guilty and take responsibility, it is time for Syracuse University and Camp Greylock to accept responsibility and be held accountable,” he added.