Twelve female water polo players in California who have accused their former coach of sexually abusing them when they were minors have reached a settlement of nearly $14 million in a lawsuit they brought against two organizations they say failed to protect them. The players sued USA Water Polo, which sanctions local clubs in the sport, and International Water Polo Club, a club in Los Alamitos, a city in Orange County, Calif., that was led by the coach, Bahram Hojreh. In the lawsuit, the 12 players said that from 2012 through 2017, Mr. Hojreh abused them during what were supposed to be one-on-one coaching sessions in the water. Mr. Hojreh told the players that they needed to fight him off, the players said, and that what he was doing was showing them techniques they would have to deal with while playing in college. Mr. Hojreh, 45, also faces nearly three dozen criminal charges in connection with the allegations.

Source: International New York Times June 08, 2021 02:48 UTC