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Two men claiming that former Olympic athlete and Syracuse University student Conrad Mainwaring sexually abused them are suing the university for negligence.

The lawsuit, filed in Onondaga County Supreme Court on Aug. 6, alleges that SU failed to investigate credible reports that Mainwaring had sexually abused student athletes on campus. The lawsuit is the fourth filed against the university by former students and athletes alleging abuse by Mainwaring. 

SU cannot comment on active litigation, said Sarah Scalese, senior associate vice president for university communications, in a statement to The Daily Orange. 

When the university first learned of allegations against Mainwaring in February 2019, it immediately notified law enforcement and retained an outside law firm to conduct an independent review, Scalese said. 

The lawsuit alleges that SU employees had witnessed Mainwaring’s sexual misconduct and inappropriate touching of a minor prior to the abuse perpetrated against its plaintiffs. 

Mainwaring, who was a graduate student at SU in the 1980s, has been accused of molesting multiple SU students during his time on campus, according to an ESPN investigation released in August 2019. At least 14 other men in the Syracuse area have accused Mainwaring of sexual abuse, including at least seven who were local high school students at the time.

Mainwaring allegedly “used force, fear, fraud, intimidation, threats and undue influence to forcibly sexually assault” the first plaintiff of the most recent lawsuit, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiff was a 17-year-old high school student at the time of the alleged abuse, and the abuse continued for three years, the lawsuit alleges.

The second plaintiff, a Syracuse high school student at the time, claimed Mainwaring abused him at Mainwaring’s summer residence on campus during the summer of 1981. The lawsuit alleges that Mainwaring used his employment at SU “to engage in a pattern and practice of sexually abusing minor students” under the guise of mental training, counseling and hypnosis.

“Despite warnings, notice and ‘red flags’ that Mainwaring was sexually abusing underage male students, Defendant Syracuse University continued to allow Mainwaring unfettered access to isolated one-on-one private meetings with underage male students resulting in child sexual abuse,” the lawsuit reads.

SU failed to supervise its students, faculty, staff and coaches — including Mainwaring — and failed to supervise and protect the students from foreseeable harm, the lawsuit claims. 

SU has acknowledged that Mainwaring was a graduate student in the 1980s and worked in the university’s dorms. Many of Mainwaring’s victims were members of his “squad” at SU, the group of students and young males whom he coached and advised, ESPN reported.

No charges have been filed against Mainwaring in Syracuse. He cannot be prosecuted for abusing the underage boys because the incidents happened too long ago, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick told syracuse.com.

At least three other men have sued SU for its role in Mainwaring’s sexual abuse, and the plaintiffs in this lawsuit are requesting a jury trial.

New York’s 2019 Child Victims Act extended the statute of limitations for claims of sexual abuse of a minor in the state from age 23 to 55. Additionally, the law suspended the statute of limitations in such cases for one year, and this date was later extended to Aug. 14, 2021.

Published on August 18, 2021 at 10:36 pm

Contact Michael: msessa@syr.edu | @MichaelSessa3