Bobby Bittner of Beaufort, North Carolina, previously under an interim ban by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, has been permanently banned as of June 28, 2019.
Bittner was an athlete member of USA Swimming as recently as 2017, but was more recently a coach member. Old college swimming rosters show him as a member of the UNC-Wilmington swimming roster during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 seasons, and the South Carolina roster for the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons.
We’ve asked both USA Swimming and the U.S. Center for SafeSport for further information on Bittner’s continued connection to the sport. A news article from last year named Bittner as a coach with the Beaufort Bluefins and a document from the North Carolina Swimming LSC also listed Bittner as a part-time coach. (The document is from January of 2018, before Bittner had been added to the ban database).
Bittner was previously listed as “interim measure – suspended” in the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s database, and was therefore included on USA Swimming’s temporary ban list. His new entry in the SafeSport database is “permanently ineligible,” as determined by the U.S. Center for SafeSport. His ban is listed with three violations:
- Sexual misconduct involving a minor (subject to appeal / not yet final)
- Social media and electronic communications
- Intimate relationship – involving a minor (subject to appeal / not yet final)
The “subject to appeal / not yet final” tag typically means the window for an appeal is still open or arbitration of an appeal on the ban is ongoing. The ban, though, remains official and in effect as long as Bittner’s name appears in the SafeSport database.
Maybe getting facts straight before you post articles that are harmful to someone’s reputation. Bobby has done nothing but help children succeed in life. This is all sounds like it’s made up to me!
If you call being a pedophile and grooming children helping children then God help you. I’ve got all the facts or you can just request records from the Carteret County Sheriff’s department. It’s all public record. Or you could ask his numerous victims how it has impacted their lives. When this happened Bobby was 25, one of his victim’s was 10. That’s sick and disgusting. Jayswim, why don’t you get your facts straight.
Congrats on all your hard work Bobby.
Doesn’t look good for South Carolina
Please explain how this says anything about South Carolina? Seems to me he graduated 3 years ago and coached in NC when this whole thing started.