By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam
Australia’s former Olympic Swimming Physiotherapist Peter John Wells has been accused of kid sexual assault after repeated sexual contact with 5 women and indecent assault of two others.
Wells is accused of getting relationships with 5 women in Brisbane between 2003 and 2009. On the Olympics in 2008 and 2016, he was the pinnacle physiotherapist for the Australian swim workforce. He was additionally the lead physiotherapist in 2016 for all the Australian Olympic Workforce at their headquarters clinic.
When he was not at main occasions, he owned his personal observe in Kelvin Grove and he labored at a sports activities complicated in Chandler. Each are in Queensland and that is the place the abuse allegedly occurred.
He was initially arrested in 2022 and final week he had a committal listening to the place his therapeutic massage strategies have been mentioned and at the least one sufferer gave an affidavit about their expertise.
A committal listening to is designed to find out whether or not the proof is substantial sufficient to cost the defendant with a criminal offense. The listening to was scheduled to final at the least every week with greater than 26 witnesses, however after a number of days, it was postponed and can resume on January twentieth. Wells has not entered a plea to any costs but.
Olympic gold medalist Bronte Barratt was known as as a witness in the course of the first a part of the listening to, not a complainant. Barratt, who gained a gold medal within the 800 freestyle relay in Beijing, was known as to the stand because of the truth that she had in depth communication with one other elite swimmer who needed to make a report towards Wells.
Barratt responded, “Such a toughie. Solely do it should you really feel comfy, and it’s your life, so don’t be pressured or something … Have you ever spoken to anybody else from our period? Actually each Queensland lady on the swim workforce would have been handled by Peter Wells sooner or later.”
She reportedly withheld among the communication from the previous swimmer, which is why she was questioned on the listening to.
No less than one of many alleged victims received the chance to handle the decide on the primary day with the court docket being closed to the general public to permit anonymity.
Learn the total story on SwimSwam: Australian Swimming’s Former Physiotherapist Peter John Wells Accused of Sexual Assault
