Michael McCorvy and Joshua Lawson have been removed from the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s database of banned individuals, while three other names briefly appeared in the database before being removed this week.
Michael McCorvy
McCorvy was a coach with Magnolia Aquatic Club. In 2018, he was listed in the SafeSport database as “permanently ineligible,” though his entry carried the “subject to appeal / not yet final” tag. At the time, Magnolia told SwimSwam that to their knowledge, the ban was connected to something that happened when McCorvy was a minor and before he was a coach. Legal documents showed a 1992 incident in which McCorvy allegedly entered a woman’s home in Texas and sexually assaulted her. McCorvy reached a plea deal, pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass, while the prosecution dropped the sexual assault charge. McCorvy was sentenced to one year of probation.
Last fall, McCorvy’s sanction of “permanently ineligible” was changed to “suspension” as of November 1. Now, as of January 2020, McCorvy no longer appears in the database. We asked the Center for SafeSport and USA Swimming for more information on the change. The Center typically doesn’t comment on specific cases, but said that “Individuals might no longer appear in the database if they received a sanction that no does not affect their eligibility to participate in sport.”
McCorvy does not appear as a coach on Magnolia’s website.
Joshua Lawson
Lawson was a former swimmer at Henderson State. In November of 2017, he was suspended for one year due to “sexual misconduct – sexual harassment.” His suspension was originally listed as ending in November of 2018, but the USA Swimming temporary banned list now lists his suspension as “indeterminate.” However, Lawson’s name no longer appears in the Center for SafeSport’s banned database. We’ve asked both organizations for clarification on Lawson’s status, but have not yet received a response.
Three More Names Briefly (Re-)Appear, Disappear
Meanwhile two names connected with older bans briefly reappeared in the database, along with one new name. Nick D’Addabbo, Derick Fraenkel, and Kareem Elyafi were all briefly listed in the database in January. We asked the Center for clarification on their bans on January 14, and all three names were removed on January 16.
D’Addabbo was the subject of a video by a vigilante group that says they caught D’Addabbo trying to meet up with an underage boy. He was placed on an interim suspension in August of 2018. But he was removed from the database in 2019, and a source told us that his case had been closed.
Fraenkel was given a one-year suspension in April of 2018. Someone using his name left a comment online suggesting that he was originally banned for life for “simply hugging their swimmers in front of their parents.” Fraenkel’s ban ended in April of 2019.
Elyafi had not previously been in the database. He was briefly listed, with USA Swimming as the adjudicating body. But there was no date, sanction or offense listed. He was removed from the database on January 16 along with D’Addabbo and Fraenkel.
Regarding the McCorvy case. The incident happens To the best of my knowledge when he was a minor and entered into his then “girlfriend’s room/home. The dad find out and put a complaint with the police. Hence the rest of the story and plea deal. Fast forward about 2 years ago, a parent at the team found out about incident (when her was a minor) and denounced it to safe sport. The rest has been already reported.
There is s very big difference in the ‘ vigilante ‘ claim & no case at all.