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Heaton, who was hired to lead Harvard's diving program in
August, was placed on leave on Oct. 3. In an abbreviated
statement on Tuesday, Harvard said that Heaton had resigned and
that it had appointed an interim coach.
In a class-action lawsuit filed on Sept. 30, Heaton was accused
of soliciting on numerous occasions since 2015 nude pictures
from female athletes at USA Diving's Ripfest Diving camp in
Indiana. USA Diving is the sport's national governing body.
Heaton was not named in the lawsuit, which was filed by several
women, only one of whom was named in it. Reuters' attempts to
reach Heaton were unsuccessful.
On Tuesday, Harvard spokeswoman Rachael Dane declined to provide
contact information for Heaton, saying he was no longer an
employee and that she did not know if he had legal
representation.
The lawsuit, seen by Reuters, named as defendants USA Diving,
Indiana Diving Academy, Ripfest's director John Wingfield, and
Johel Ramirez Suarez, who had worked at the camp as a coach.
John Wingfield and representatives for USA Diving and the
Indiana Diving Academy did not respond to requests for comment.
Reuters was not immediately able to obtain contact information
for Suarez.
In a statement issued by Harvard on Oct. 3, spokeswoman Dane
said, "Harvard Athletics was unaware of any allegations of
misconduct when Mr. Heaton was hired as the Head Coach for
Diving in August 2018."
"Upon learning of allegations of sexual misconduct from media
reports, Harvard immediately placed Mr. Heaton on leave, pending
a review by Harvard University," she said.
It was the latest case of allegations of sexual misconduct
roiling college sports.
In August, the U.S. Department of Education opened a civil
rights investigation into how Ohio State University responded to
accusations of sexual abuse against now-deceased doctor Richard
Strauss, who worked for its athletic department.
In July, Ohio State said that more than 100 former students had
told investigators they were victims of Strauss, who killed
himself in 2005.
Last year, the former doctor for USA Gymnastics, Larry Nassar,
was sentenced by a Michigan court for sexually abusing female
gymnasts. Michigan State University agreed to a $500 million
settlement in that case.
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
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