Carter Starocci faces allegations of sexual assault and theft

[JimmyCinnabon]

23 minutes ago, peanut said:

Given the available evidence, what should the PSU coaches have done?

Literally anything because it appears as if they did literally nothing.

[BAC]

Disappointing, to say the least.  In the short term, this obviously is going to be the end of Starocci's association with NLWC, and may will be the end of is amateur career.  The bigger question is what the blowback will be on the PSU coaches.  Was any of this buried?  It's hard to tell. 

To break it down by allegations, in order of seriousness:

--Starocci's behavior with women.  This is where the allegations are most serious (there's a rape allegation in the article), though there's no indication any of this was relayed to the coaches.  If it were, it likely would have been in the form of second-hand rumors, which probably isn't enough to trigger any sort of obligation to report it, though you'd hope the coaches would talk to him.  A reporting obligation would arise if a first-hand account were reported of something that's a crime, but that does not seem to be the case here.

--Starocci's on-the-mat behavior (finger in butt, genital grabbing).  There's Beau plus two others alleging this, but the article makes no mention of it being reported to the coaches or the coaches being aware of it.  Were they?  Beau mentions what he reported, and doesn't include this. If someone said it *was* reported, and the coaches did nothing, that's serious, but also a very VERY grey area.  It's also one which has the broadest repercussions in the sport, in terms of triggering a broader conversation. In a physically proximate sport, where the ol' "5 on 2" and "oil check" have been around for decades but are often inadvertent, what's a coach to do when someone says "he grabbed my balls"?  Even if it's intentional, given that it's usually done for competitive advantage rather than for perversion, do you treat it as a penalty-justifying foul, or as sexual assault? 

 --Starocci posting naked photos and posting them on chat.  This, based on the article, is where the coaches are at greatest risk, as Beau says this was reported to them. The details on this one are going to be important.  Do the photos posed on public chat (even if it's just team members) include genitalia? Was the posting of photos reported, and what did the coaches do? Was the naked photo of Beau shared? Deleted? If it's on the more serious end (e.g. genital-exposing photos shared on chat and reported to coaches), then any coach that did nothing is cooked -- Cael included.  But if it was just the one photo reported, I can see a coach dismissing it as stupid locker room antics, thinking it sufficient to verbally counsel Starocci and ensure the photo was deleted.  But such judgment calls, even if defensible in isolation, take a new life when this becomes a PR issue and investigators look at this with 20-20 hindsight. I can see someone saying, "even if all that was reported is a single naked photo, that's a criminal act and must be reported up the chain, and is a fireable offense if it isn't."  That one's a problem and, by itself, could result in loss of a job.  

--Starocci's theft.  Against all the other issues, this is the tail wagging the dog.  This was reported to the coaches, and the coaches said they're fine if they report it to the police.  It isn't the coaches job to figure out who's stealing from who, only to assist if they want to report it to police. Beau seemed unconvinced in the coaches' sincerity in wanting to get to the bottom of it, but again, that's not really their job, it's the police's job.

Bottom line:  Whether the coaches were aware of Starocci's misconduct in wrestling practice, and what they did, is a huge open question.  So too is what exactly was reported to the coaches about Carter's photo of Beau, and what they did -- but based on what's reported, the coaches are going to be scrutinized.  The allegations are serious enough on their merit, but the PR folks are now going to get involved and they skew toward overcorrection, so if any coach didn't properly report up the chain, they'll be put on leave.  

[Voice of the Quakers]

Seems appropriate to paraphrase my thoughts from the Ohio State documentary topic here, especially given that the PSU police couldn't seem to find CS for an interview over a 6 month period...

If you know anything about the way colleges operated then (and now)...

• Everyone knew.
• Plenty of people complained.
• Those who complained were told by the administration to pound sand.
• As such, friends and teammates warned their friends and teammates and told them to make the best of it.

[headshuck]

If any one of you says you haven’t received a 5on2 or an oil check at some point in your career, I’m gunna call you a liar.

[Dogbone]

8 minutes ago, Ragu said:

Couldn't make contact for 6 months over their investigation. They know where he will be at least once a day everyday of the week, that's BS

Are you suggesting an investigation into sexual misconduct in a PSU athletic facility was not completed the most vigorous fashion possible?? I am shocked, just shocked.    

[cl415]

13 minutes ago, peanut said:

In general — and as applied to any college sports team — if a team policy, school policy, or law is broken, and there is evidence presented to the coaches of that, I would hope appropriate action would be taken. 

Doesn’t have time to read the article but has time to post multiple times about it. Just be honest, you read it but want to use ignorance as a defense. Carter is accused of rape, sexually assaulting his teammates, and taking nude pictures of them and sending them to the team’s group chat. 
 

The theft is secondary. You want to know Cael could have done? Anything. Something. Just one thing. 

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

I don't doubt oil checks happen with some regularity in wrestling and other grappling heavy sports.  However, I am somewhat surprised that Carter Starocci, a huge 184 pounder would be wrestling at all with 141 pound Beau Bartlett.

[ionel]

1 minute ago, cl415 said:

Doesn’t have time to read the article but has time to post multiple times about it. Just be honest, you read it but want to use ignorance as a defense. Carter is accused of rape, sexually assaulting his teammates, and taking nude pictures of them and sending them to the team’s group chat. 
 

The theft is secondary. You want to know Cael could have done? Anything. Something. Just one thing. 

... don't forget the under age thing kindve brings it more Sandusky level ...

[wrestlingfan22]

28 minutes ago, Mr. PeanutButter said:

Wimps

I went back and listened; their reasoning at least, was that with how major the allegations are, they felt it would be unprofessional to speculate on it, as they appear to have no information outside of the article itself. The fact that they did not read through the article and say the allegations was incredibly cowardly in my opinion, but I do understand them not wanting to speculate or offer any opinions on it this early

[wrestlingfan22]

8 minutes ago, BAC said:

Disappointing, to say the least.  In the short term, this obviously is going to be the end of Starocci's association with NLWC, and may will be the end of is amateur career.  The bigger question is what the blowback will be on the PSU coaches.  Was any of this buried?  It's hard to tell. 

To break it down by allegations, in order of seriousness:

--Starocci's behavior with women.  This is where the allegations are most serious (there's a rape allegation in the article), though there's no indication any of this was relayed to the coaches.  If it were, it likely would have been in the form of second-hand rumors, which probably isn't enough to trigger any sort of obligation to report it, though you'd hope the coaches would talk to him.  A reporting obligation would arise if a first-hand account were reported of something that's a crime, but that does not seem to be the case here.

--Starocci's on-the-mat behavior (finger in butt, genital grabbing).  There's Beau plus two others alleging this, but the article makes no mention of it being reported to the coaches or the coaches being aware of it.  Were they?  Beau mentions what he reported, and doesn't include this. If someone said it *was* reported, and the coaches did nothing, that's serious, but also a very VERY grey area.  It's also one which has the broadest repercussions in the sport, in terms of triggering a broader conversation. In a physically proximate sport, where the ol' "5 on 2" and "oil check" have been around for decades but are often inadvertent, what's a coach to do when someone says "he grabbed my balls"?  Even if it's intentional, given that it's usually done for competitive advantage rather than for perversion, do you treat it as a penalty-justifying foul, or as sexual assault? 

 --Starocci posting naked photos and posting them on chat.  This, based on the article, is where the coaches are at greatest risk, as Beau says this was reported to them. The details on this one are going to be important.  Do the photos posed on public chat (even if it's just team members) include genitalia? Was the posting of photos reported, and what did the coaches do? Was the naked photo of Beau shared? Deleted? If it's on the more serious end (e.g. genital-exposing photos shared on chat and reported to coaches), then any coach that did nothing is cooked -- Cael included.  But if it was just the one photo reported, I can see a coach dismissing it as stupid locker room antics, thinking it sufficient to verbally counsel Starocci and ensure the photo was deleted.  But such judgment calls, even if defensible in isolation, take a new life when this becomes a PR issue and investigators look at this with 20-20 hindsight. I can see someone saying, "even if all that was reported is a single naked photo, that's a criminal act and must be reported up the chain, and is a fireable offense if it isn't."  That one's a problem and, by itself, could result in loss of a job.  

--Starocci's theft.  Against all the other issues, this is the tail wagging the dog.  This was reported to the coaches, and the coaches said they're fine if they report it to the police.  It isn't the coaches job to figure out who's stealing from who, only to assist if they want to report it to police. Beau seemed unconvinced in the coaches' sincerity in wanting to get to the bottom of it, but again, that's not really their job, it's the police's job.

Bottom line:  Whether the coaches were aware of Starocci's misconduct in wrestling practice, and what they did, is a huge open question.  So too is what exactly was reported to the coaches about Carter's photo of Beau, and what they did -- but based on what's reported, the coaches are going to be scrutinized.  The allegations are serious enough on their merit, but the PR folks are now going to get involved and they skew toward overcorrection, so if any coach didn't properly report up the chain, they'll be put on leave.  

With the behavior with women thing, in the article the woman accusing him of rape said that before she went to his home she had spent time with him at LWC in the PSU/NLWC team facilities/Sauna's. Starocci using the facility to lure in potential victims is something that if true, would have major blowback on the staff, even if they had no idea it was occurring. 

[Dogbone]

6 minutes ago, BAC said:

Bottom line:  Whether the coaches were aware of Starocci's misconduct in wrestling practice, and what they did, is a huge open question.  So too is what exactly was reported to the coaches about Carter's photo of Beau, and what they did -- but based on what's reported, the coaches are going to be scrutinized.  The allegations are serious enough on their merit, but the PR folks are now going to get involved and they skew toward overcorrection, so if any coach didn't properly report up the chain, they'll be put on leave.  

This is a very good breakdown of the issues.   I doubt there is much evidence tying the coaches to anything real, but because this is PSU, I think Cael's only real concern is if this gets picked up by the National Media and sensationalized beyond the evidence.   The pressure of another winning coach over looking alleged sexual misconduct allegations at PSU could be too much for a Board of Regents, even if there is no evidence Cael was aware of anything.  

[1032004]

1 hour ago, Caveira said:

Our the window that Cael only knew about it this year comment ?   Which I believe you made in the other thread.  

I said it’s not clear to me if he did.  The article clearly states the theft allegation was this year.  It does not specify when the allegations of the pictures and genital-grabbing started. 

Edited 6 hours ago by 1032004

[Tripnsweep]

27 minutes ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

That part is odd. It's not like Starocci was hiding in a cave in Afghanistan.

[MNRodent]

In a sport that penalizes hands to the face it seems that finger down the bung should be some type of violation whether it be in practice or in competition.

[Ragu]

26 minutes ago, headshuck said:

If any one of you says you haven’t received a 5on2 or an oil check at some point in your career, I’m gunna call you a liar.

Let’s not cherry pick this one detail from the article. Clearly written by a non wrestler and they don’t have an understanding of the practice room environments. If his only accusation was excessive oil checks that’s one thing. But the article is full of other much more scathing statements. I wish the oil checking comments in the article weren’t even there…

[JimmyCinnabon]

23 minutes ago, BAC said:

--Starocci's on-the-mat behavior (finger in butt, genital grabbing).  There's Beau plus two others alleging this, but the article makes no mention of it being reported to the coaches or the coaches being aware of it.  Were they?  Beau mentions what he reported, and doesn't include this. If someone said it *was* reported, and the coaches did nothing, that's serious, but also a very VERY grey area.  It's also one which has the broadest repercussions in the sport, in terms of triggering a broader conversation. In a physically proximate sport, where the ol' "5 on 2" and "oil check" have been around for decades but are often inadvertent, what's a coach to do when someone says "he grabbed my balls"?  Even if it's intentional, given that it's usually done for competitive advantage rather than for perversion, do you treat it as a penalty-justifying foul, or as sexual assault?   

I will focus on this one since I have personal experience with it. I couldn't disagree more with your assessment that it's hard to separate assault from wrestling. It's not. As a teen I had a guy on my team who was just like Carter. He did all of this sh*t that Carter is being accused of and it certainly could not be confused with wrestling. Believe me when I tell you that these guys that do this don't just grab your junk and stick two of their fingers all the way up your ass and move on, they love doing it and they make sure you know it's intentional. It's 50% of the reason I quit wrestling after nine years when I would have likely been a kid who qualified for PIAA states in high school because I was good enough. The article does mention that Carter did some of these things to teammates in front of Cael. 

[wrestlingfan22]

29:55 if you want to see Willie and Basch with some all-time thatagedpoorly takes

[RandolphTJones]

Bo Nickal loves to talk. Curious what he will say about this. I'm sure a podcast from him will be out sooner rather than later.

[JimmyCinnabon]

1 minute ago, RandolphTJones said:

Bo Nickal loves to talk. Curious what he will say about this. I'm sure a podcast from him will be out sooner rather than later.

My prediction is that Bo gives a dogsh*t take on the whole thing.

[Ragu]

1 minute ago, JimmyCinnabon said:

My prediction is that Bo gives a dogsh*t take on the whole thing.

And Cassar just sits there

Edited 6 hours ago by Ragu

[Mr. PeanutButter]

Just now, JimmyCinnabon said:

My prediction is that Bo gives a dogsh*t take on the whole thing.

Maybe he'll invite the haters to perform fellatio on him and Carter in the PSU locker room this time 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

2 hours ago, Wrasslin said:

That's a pretty good article- thanks for sharing! What kid keeps over $1000 worth of stuff in their school athletic locker?

A kid who was already making six figures...

[RandolphTJones]

2 minutes ago, JimmyCinnabon said:

My prediction is that Bo gives a dogsh*t take on the whole thing.

Probably.

Also, if these Snapchat allegations are true, that's tangible evidence right there that could bring further proof. 

[Caveira]

41 minutes ago, BAC said:

If it were, it likely would have been in the form of second-hand rumors, which probably isn't enough to trigger any sort of obligation to report it

Really?   I would think they do 

Yes, in most cases, a college coach is obligated to report any information—such as a rumor—regarding a student-athlete's involvement in sexual misconduct, including rape. This duty is typically enforced under Title IX and institutional policies that designate coaches and other staff as “mandatory reporters.”

Title IX and Mandatory Reporting

Under Title IX, employees who are designated as mandatory reporters must report any known or suspected incidents of sexual harassment or assault involving students, even if the information is secondhand or unverified. This includes situations where the alleged victim or perpetrator is a student at the institution. The report must be made to the institution’s Title IX coordinator, regardless of the reporter's personal belief about the truth of the allegation .subr.edu

Failure to report can result in disciplinary action against the coach, including potential termination.

Recent Developments

It's important to note that Title IX regulations have evolved. For instance, in 2020, new federal guidelines reduced some mandatory reporting requirements for certain employees, including coaches . However, many institutions have maintained or even strengthened their internal policies, continuing to require coaches to report any suspected sexual misconduct.subr.edu+2sports.yahoo.com+2time.com+2

State Laws and SafeSport

In addition to federal regulations, state laws may impose mandatory reporting obligations, especially if the alleged victim is a minor. Furthermore, organizations affiliated with the U.S. Center for SafeSport require coaches to report suspected abuse to both law enforcement and the Center, in accordance with applicable laws .

[Mr. PeanutButter]

Just now, RandolphTJones said:

Probably.

Also, if these Snapchat allegations are true, that's tangible evidence right there that could bring further proof. 

I haven't used Snapchat since my whoring days but I believe messages and pictures exchanged on the app disappear after a set period of time. Still, there might be screenshots!