Did NC gymnastics coach ‘cross the line’ with young girls, or coach them to perfection?

A former gymnastics coach “repeatedly and systematically crossed the line” while training young girls, a prosecutor said Wednesday, while the coach’s attorney argued that physical contact is a necessary part of the sport and jurors must focus on his intent.

Stephen Maness of Chapel Hill is charged with four counts of indecent liberties with a minor and four counts of sexual battery. He is the formerowner of Bull City Gymnastics in Durham, where the assaults are alleged to have happened between 2013 and 2020. He was initially charged in February 2021.

Opening statements followed selection of 12 jurors — six men and six women — Wednesday morning in Durham County Superior Court.

‘Normalized intimacy’

Assistant District Attorney Brooks Stone went first, describing actions he said girls and their mothers would testify to during the trial.

“Some of the touching was a normal part of coaching,” Stone told the jurors. “But the defendant did not limit his touching to what was necessary for the safety of the girls.”

Stone said Maness moved from routine spotting of his students to inappropriate behavior. He put his hands between girls’ legs and over their vaginas, Stone alleged, sometimes putting his hand inside the leotards of girls, some of whom spent over 30 hours a week in the gym.

Gymnasts typically wear a skin-tight leotard with a sports bra underneath during practice. Other underwear is not traditionally worn, a witness later testified.

“The defendant normalized intimacy between himself and these girls” and told the girls he loved them, Stone said in his opening statement.

“The defendant acted like it was normal,” Stone said, “so they thought it was normal.”

Girls first disclosed the abuse to their mothers, some of whom will testify, Stone said. He told the jurors that the victims were, and in some cases still are, children and conceded that the girls who will testify may not have perfect memories of the events.

‘Pursuit of perfection’

Maness’s attorney Melissa Owen told the jurors that Maness ran one of the most elite programs in the country.

“This case is about one thing and one thing only: What was Stephen Maness’s intent?” she said. “We don’t expect you to cherry pick a series of facts that happened over a 12-year period”

Owen described Maness as a “tough coach” who sought to drive and motivate his athletes.

“High-level gymnastics is a constant pursuit of perfection,” and coaching at that level involves a lot of “hands-on training.,” she said.

“How do they get so perfect?” she asked jurors. “They have a coach this is correcting their shape and holding them straight”

Nassar references prohibited

On Tuesday, Judge Josephine Davis prohibited mention of convicted sexual predator and former gynmastics coach Larry Nassar during the trial after the defense argued that discussion of Nassar would prejudice the jury against Maness. Nassar, a disgraced physician, was convicted of sexually assaulting gymnasts while working for Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics.

The judge allowed and the defense did not object to questions during jury selection that asked potential jurors if they knew about the Nassar case and if so, whether it would influence them.

This is a breaking news story that will be updated as the trial continues.

This story was originally published July 12, 2023 at 12:07 PM.