French Olympic figure skater Morgan Cipres has a warrant out for his arrest. The warrant was issued after the Florida state attorney’s office filed a felony charge against Cipres for the transmission of material harmful to a minor by an electronic device.
The charge is a third-degree felony and Cipres could face up to five years in prison. The 29-year-old skater was training in Florida for several years. On December 3, 2017, he allegedly messaged two photos of his penis to a 13-year-old American female figure skater. The 13-year-old trained in the same rink as Cipres in Florida.
Andrea Lewis, the attorney for the girl, said, “the first step towards justice for the victim and her family.”
Cipres was asked in a phone interview in 2019 about the allegations and said, “I cannot talk with you about anything about that. I mean, I have nothing to say about this allegation.”
In addition, he is being investigated by the U.S. Center for SafeSport. The SafeSport was opened in March 2017 to investigate sexual abuse and misconduct in the Olympic sports. SafeSport had sent the documents and photos relating to the case to the French Federation of Ice Sports before the organization announced the retirement of Cipres and his pairs partner.
The girl and her parents also allege that Cipre’s coaches John Zimmerman and Silvia Fontana attempted to prevent them from reporting the incident. Both allegedly threatened and shamed the girl and her family. Zimmerman and Fontana attempted to do so because Cipres and his partner were preparing for the Olympics in South Korea. Both Zimmerman and Fontana have denied these allegations.
Dara Bushman, the psychologist working with the girl contacted the authorities after being emailed by the parent about the incident on December 30, 2017.
When authorities came to investigate, the girl refused to cooperate. Her parents took the girl and returned home to South Florida. The girl has been in therapy since the incident.
However, the case has now reopened, active, and the girl is now fully cooperating with authorities.
