US sex-abuse watchdog fires investigator after learning of his arrest for stealing drug money

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Center for SafeSport abruptly fired one of its investigators last month after learning he'd been arrested for stealing money confiscated after a drug bust he was part of during his previous job as a police officer.

Jason Krasley left his job with the Allentown Police Department in Pennsylvania in 2021 and was hired by the Denver-based SafeSport center to look into sensitive cases involving sex abuse and harassment.

Among Krasley's cases was one with Sean McDowell, who had filed a report to the center accusing a member of his Seattle-based recreational rugby club of stalking and harassment. McDowell said it took the center, which has struggled with timely handling of complaints, about eight weeks to assign an investigator to the case.

That investigator turned out to be Krasley, who stopped responding to emails from McDowell a few weeks after they first spoke. Around then, McDowell got a terse email from the center's assistant director of investigations, Daniel Kast, who said he was “writing to advise you that Jason Krasley is no longer employed” by the center, and that a new investigator would be assigned.

McDowell did some digging and saw news reports that Krasley had been arrested and charged with theft and receiving stolen property for allegedly stealing $5,500 that had been confiscated from a drug bust in Allentown in 2019. The criminal case in Pennsylvania still has not been resolved.

“I went back and double-checked it. It was just disbelief, because I'm thinking, ‘There’s no way this could be the same guy,'” McDowell said. “I'm still struggling to wrap my mind around it because it just seems so off from what their stated mission is.”

The SafeSport Center was established in 2017 to deal with sexual-misconduct, harassment and similar cases in sports with an Olympic connection, from the elite level down to the grassroots.

At last count, it had around 77 employees on its response and resolutions team — 36 of whom are on the center's investigations team — and the center was receiving approximately 155 reports per week. While not every report ends up as a fully investigated case, the numbers speak to an ever-growing catalogue of cases that the agency, with an annual budget of around $21 million, is tasked with resolving.

Embedded within that issue are the challenges that come with finding qualified investigators to ask delicate questions of both accusers and those accused of misconduct. The center said it hires subject-matter experts from a variety of sources including law enforcement, child protective services, Title IX, and other relevant fields.

“Although we value our relationship with law enforcement, nobody is above the law," the center’s CEO, Ju’Riese Colon, said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press.

The center said it conducts multiple interviews and a “comprehensive background check” of potential employees by an independent third party “known nationally for its work in screening and vetting candidates.” Every year, the center conducts a search for criminal and sex-offender history for active employees.

“As a CEO, I am profoundly disappointed that a former staff member has been accused of such misconduct,” Colon said. “We take this matter seriously and are assessing the situation to determine what, if any, additional vetting could have prevented this individual from being eligible for hire.”

Public records show Krasley worked as a detective/task force officer for the Allentown police from 2002-21. His 2024 arrest came more than five years after the alleged theft.

It came out of a May 2019 drug bust on a barbershop where police seized cocaine and $16,000 in cash.

The grand jury presentment that led to the arrest revealed Krasley was one of the officers who counted the money and was later inside the van where it was stored. Back at the station, when some of the money went missing, Krasley became argumentative and would not submit to a personal search, according to the presentment.

Krasley did not respond to emails and text messages from AP seeking comment.

Krasley's arrest and dismissal from the center raises the question of what to do with the cases he handled during his time as an investigator there. The center did not provide a specific number of cases Krasley handled.

Among those whose cases were assigned to the former cop is Kirsten Hawkes, a fencer who ran into multiple frustrations with the center after reporting a claim that a former coach of hers forcibly kissed her after a meeting at a hotel bar.

Hawkes said Krasley came off as very sympathetic to her situation when they met, and “he'd sort of call me and talk about other things, like family, or other cases. We would talk for hours.”

Hawkes said she was grateful that someone was listening to her after her traumatic episode. But she also described Krasley as overly eager to resolve the case once it got to arbitration and unwilling to consider her abuse allegations against the same person from when Hawkes was a child.

When Hawkes heard that Krasley had been arrested and fired, she started wondering if her case and others were handled appropriately.

“They have the resources to call a police department and say ‘Hey we’re hiring him for a semi-government job handling sensitive information, anything we should know?'” Hawkes said. “It might not show up on a background check, but they should at least do the due diligence on digging a little bit further.

“It puts everything under a different lens, completely.”

The center said it was reviewing the cases Krasley was involved in, and currently has no indication any of them were mishandled. It is contracting with an external firm to conduct an audit of his cases.

Since Krasley's dismissal, McDowell, the rugby player, has had his case reassigned to a new investigator who he said “has been good" so far.

Still, the clock is ticking. The 34-year-old player says he was retaliated against and suspended by his rugby team in Seattle after he asked leaders to take action against the person he said was stalking him. The retaliation included sending details of his case to another rugby club in San Francisco, which also tried to bar him from playing.

“Because of this whole smear campaign, people are hostile to me,” McDowell said. "What the SafeSport Center doesn't understand is, this is actually my day-to-day life. It's not just the people I'm playing rugby with, because word spreads. And they just don't seem to really care, or take it seriously.”

McDowell brought the case in September. Heading into the Christmas holiday, he says the SafeSport Center had not treated his case with urgency and was no further along in getting his complaint resolved than when he initiated it.

“The public-facing comments seem to be that they're this beacon of hope and optimism," McDowell said. "Then, every time I read a new story about them, I keep thinking, ‘The actions from SafeSport don’t align with any of this.'”

This story has been corrected to show the center was receiving approximately 155 reports per week, not per month.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

FILE - U.S. Center for SafeSport CEO Ju'Riese Colón testifies during The Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Richard Parsons, one of corporate America's most prominent Black executives who held top posts at Time Warner and Citigroup, died Thursday. He was 76.

Parsons, who died at his Manhattan home, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2015 and cited “unanticipated complications” from the disease for cutting back on work a few years later.

The financial services company Lazard, where Parsons was a longtime board member, confirmed his death.

Parsons’ friend Ronald Lauder told The New York Times that the cause of death was cancer.

Parsons stepped down Dec. 3 from the boards of Lazard and Lauder’s company, Estée Lauder, citing health reasons. He had been on Estée Lauder’s board for 25 years.

“Dick was an American original, a colossus bestriding the worlds of business, media, culture, philanthropy, and beyond,” Ronald Lauder said in a statement on behalf of the Lauder family.

David Zaslav, the CEO of Time Warner successor Warner Bros. Discovery, hailed Parsons as a “great mentor and friend” and a “tough and brilliant negotiator, always looking to create something where both sides win.”

“All who got a chance to work with him and know him saw that unusual combination of great leadership with integrity and kindness,” Zaslav said, calling him “one of the great problem solvers this industry has ever seen.”

Parsons, a Brooklyn native who started college at 16, built a track record of steering big companies through tough times.

He returned Citigroup to profitability after turmoil from the global financial crisis and helped restore Time Warner after its much-maligned acquisition by internet provider America Online.

Parsons was named to the board of CBS in September 2018 but resigned a month later because of illness.

Parsons said in a statement at the time that he was already dealing with multiple myeloma when he joined the board, but “unanticipated complications have created additional new challenges.” He said his doctors advised him to cut back on his commitments to ensure recovery.

“Dick’s storied career embodied the finest traditions of American business leadership,” Lazard said in a statement. The company, where Parsons was a board member from 2012 until this month, praised his “unmistakable intelligence and his irresistible warmth.”

“Dick was more than an iconic leader in Lazard’s history — he was a testament to how wisdom, warmth, and unwavering judgment could shape not just companies, but people’s lives,” the company said. “His legacy lives on in the countless leaders he counseled, the institutions he renewed, and the doors he opened for others.”

Parsons was known as a skilled negotiator, a diplomat and a crisis manager.

Although he was with Time Warner through its difficulties with AOL, he earned respect for the company and rebuilt its relations with Wall Street. He streamlined Time Warner’s structure, pared debt and sold Warner Music Group and a book publishing division.

He also fended off a challenge from activist investor Carl Icahn in 2006 to break up the company and helped Time Warner reach settlements with investors and regulators over questionable accounting practices at AOL.

Parsons joined Time Warner as president in 1995 after serving as chairman and chief executive of Dime Bancorp Inc., one of the largest U.S. thrift institutions.

In 2001, after AOL used its fortunes as the leading provider of Internet access in the U.S. to buy Time Warner for $106 billion in stock, Parsons became co-chief operating officer with AOL executive Robert Pittman. In that role, he was in charge of the company’s content businesses, including movie studios and recorded music.

He became CEO in 2002 with the retirement of Gerald Levin, one of the key architects of that merger. Parsons was named Time Warner chairman the following year, replacing AOL founder Steve Case, who had also championed the combination.

The newly formed company’s Internet division quickly became a drag on Time Warner. The promised synergies between traditional and new media never materialized. AOL began seeing a reduction in subscribers in 2002 as Americans replaced dial-up connections with broadband from cable TV and phone companies.

Parsons stepped down as CEO in 2007 and as chairman in 2008. A year later AOL split from Time Warner and began trading as a separate company, following years of struggles to reinvent itself as a business focused on advertising and content. Time Warner is now owned by AT&T Inc.

A board member of Citigroup and its predecessor, Citibank, since 1996, Parsons was named chairman in 2009 at a time of turmoil for the financial institution. Citigroup had suffered five straight quarters of losses and received $45 billion in government aid. Its board had been criticized for allowing the bank to invest so heavily in the risky housing market.

Citigroup returned to profit under Parsons, starting in 2010, and would not have a quarterly loss again until the fourth quarter of 2017. Parsons retired from that job in 2012.

In 2014 he stepped in as interim CEO of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers until Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took over later that year.

“Dick Parsons was a brilliant and transformational leader and a giant of the media industry who led with integrity and never shied away from a challenge,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said.

Parsons, a Republican, previously worked as a lawyer for Nelson Rockefeller, a former Republican governor of New York, and in Gerald Ford’s White House. Those early stints gave him grounding in politics and negotiations. He also was an economic adviser on President Barack Obama’s transition team.

Parsons, whose love of jazz led to co-owning a Harlem jazz club, also served as Chairman of the Apollo Theater and the Jazz Foundation of America. And he held positions on the boards of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the American Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Parsons played basketball at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and received his law degree from Albany Law School in 1971. He is survived by his wife, Laura, and their family.

This obituary was primarily written by the late Associated Press reporter Anick Jesdanun, who died in 2020.

FILE - Richard Parsons, Chairman of Citigroup, speaks at Time Warner's headquarters Monday, June 15, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

FILE - Turner Broadcasting Systems Chairman & CEO Ted Turner, right foreground, and Richard Parsons, Time Warner president, to Turner's right, applaud the outcome of the Time Warner shareholders' vote, in New York, Thursday, Oct. 10, 1996. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File)

FILE - Time Warner CEO, Richard D. Parsons, participates in the White House Conference on the Economy: Financial Challenges for Today and Tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson, File)

FILE - AOL/Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons helps announce a new partnership to produce "Showtime at the Apollo" variety show Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2002, in New York's Harlem neighborhood. (AP Photo/Beth A. Keiser, File)

FILE - Richard Parsons, Chairman of Citigroup, speaks at Time Warner's headquarters Monday, June 15, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)