A former Ohio State diving club coach accused of having sex with an underaged diver will now serve a four-year sentence in prison. According to the Associated Press, William Bohonyi received his sentence on Monday after pleading guilty to sexual battery. He was fired by the school in 2014.
Estee Pryor talked about her encounter with Bohonyi when she was 16. She said that she had no experience with men before she met the former diving coach who was 27 years old. She said he was very complimentary to her and she thought it was just him being normal.
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“Everybody liked him and so I thought what he was doing was just normal,” Pryor said to the New York Times last year. “I didn’t think he was being serious at first, but then I didn’t know how to stop him.”
The abuse started in 2014 and at the time Pryor trained with the Ohio State Diving Club which is how she met Bohonyi. She said she felt stuck in the relationship because she could report it without any repercussions. Last year, Pryor filed a lawsuit against Bohonyi, Ohio State and USA Diving for the abuse she suffered. Once Ohio State learned of the accusation of their diving coach, he was suspended by the school for a further investigation and was fired one month later.
“The university does not tolerate sexual misconduct of any kind,” and Ohio State spokesman said to the New York Times.
Bohonyi was forced to go to trial and he eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery earlier this year.
“We are relieved that the criminal case is over,” said Robert Allard, the plaintiffs’ attorney according to the Los Angeles Times. “The fact remains that most if not all of the countless sexual assaults and rapes committed by this pedophile would have been prevented if USA Diving, similar to USA Swimming and USA Gymnastics, did not place its own selfish interests of maximizing revenue generation over the safety of children.”
USA Diving hasn’t recently commented on the situation, but last year, the AP reported the organization wanted to be dropped from the lawsuit. According to the AP, USA Diving said it “should be dismissed for several reasons, including that it didn’t knowingly participate in alleged misconduct and that some claims are legally time-barred.”
