Idaho diving coach reinstated after sexual misconduct allegations from his ex-wife
Idaho diving coach Jim Southerland has been reinstated after he was accused by his ex-wife of sexual misconduct with one of his former athletes several years ago, according to USA Today.
Southerland was initially accused by his ex-wife — who said that he “groomed” a former female diver for sex and had an “inappropriate relationship with her” when she was between 17 to 20-years-old, per USA Today. Southerland would have been 52 to 55-years old at the time.
Southerland was suspended in February by the U.S. Center for SafeSport and USA Diving, and then suspended in April from Idaho while investigations were ongoing. All three of his suspensions have since been lifted, and Southerland has denied the allegations.
“All investigations of my conduct were concluded with no evidence found to support the allegations,” Southerland said in an email to USA Today. “Just being accused of misconduct is often assumed to be a guilty verdict. Simply an unfounded accusation can cost a career. In fact, the legal fees to defend against an unfounded accusation can be career ending.
“While I wholeheartedly support all the watchdog groups who safeguard our youth, I believe there also needs to be safeguards for those accused. While national governing bodies do have procedures in place to insure some validity to complaints, these procedures are not always followed. This leaves coaches vulnerable to people with personal vendettas who know how to use the system.”
The initial allegations against Southerland
Southerland’s ex-wife, Patti McEuen, made the initial complaint against him while they were both diving coaches in the Seattle area.
McEuen told USA Today in May that the ex-diver called her crying asking for help in 2010, when she was 20, and that Southerland “groomed and had sex with the younger woman prior to that and later stalked her.” McEuen and Southerland were still married at the time.
The King County, Washington, police department looked into the allegations, and did not file charges.
“It became my word against his word because the girl wouldn’t testify,” McEuen told USA Today in May. “I said, ‘But that (conduct) is still wrong.’”
McEuen also told USA Today that Southerland’s alleged relationship with the former athlete led to their divorce in 2014.
“I don’t think they have enough proof,” McEuen told USA Today this week. “Basically, Jim and the girl admitted it to me, and I didn’t catch them in the act.”
Southerland reinstated at Idaho
Following his USA Diving and Center for SafeSport suspensions being lifted, Idaho followed suit this month and reinstated Southerland, saying it did not find any complaints or concerns regarding the coach at Idaho.
“The specific allegations made against Southerland were not disclosed to the university, but in the interim the institution commenced an independent investigation to explore any potential misconduct by Southerland in his role as U of I women’s diving coach,” the university said in a statement. “University investigators sought information from current and former student-athletes and found no evidence of violations of law or university policy.”
Southerland was hired at Idaho in 2015 after spending 26 years as the head coach at Pacific Northwest Diving and 24 years as the head diving coach at Seattle-area high school. He has served on multiple USA Diving committees, coached at the Junior World Championships and was on the board of directors for the Washington Association of U.S. Diving for 20 years, per the Vandals athletics website.
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