Outside the Lines pieced together the details of Conrad Mainwaring's life and identified allegations against him that span from England in the 1970s to Los Angeles in 2016. School district officials told Outside the Lines they found no records that Mainwaring was ever a staff member or a sanctioned volunteer. Associate Director and Director of Athletics Jim Mason has been coming to Greylock since 1975. The university gave her a Presidential Medal. But somehow, I feel like he killed Victor's spirit. Citing employee privacy policies, a spokesperson for USC declined to say whether the school had known about Mainwaring's dismissal from Caltech or comment on why he left. Over two decades she raised more than $2 billion for the university and as much as $300 million a year toward the end of her tenure. The more they connected privately through emails and phone calls, the more they discovered the similarity of their experiences -- and the more emboldened they became to take action. According to their accounts -- 15 on the record -- Mainwaring carried out his abuse across two continents and four states, often while employed at prestigious institutions. He and his mop of blond hair appeared on the inaugural season of HGTV's "Design Star," where he got his nickname because of his varied talents: designer, singer-songwriter, sculptor, photographer, mountain biker, former professional ski racer. The DA's office is seeking his extradition to Massachusetts. He was happy. She believed she could empower these girls for life.. Camp Greylock for Boys has an overall rating of 4.0 out of 5, based on over 19 reviews left anonymously by employees. "His name is Conrad Montgomery Avondale Mainwaring. Stephens had briefly trained with Mainwaring decades earlier after being introduced by De Santo. The Camp Greylock Directors, Staff, Alumni, and Community mourn the passing of one of its most beloved and longest serving Directors who passed away February 19, 2002 at his home in New His latest squad was a mix of students attending the university and younger athletes he had met at local track meets while working as a counselor at a nearby high school. Shapiro's lawsuit also names Camp Greylock, Inc., a summer camp for boys in Becket, Massachusetts. "Look, you can go talk to him if you want.". Mainwaring stumbles through, at once self-critical -- "There is total hypocrisy in my life because I'm still teaching young people." After his confrontation, David O'Boyle wrote the letter that got Mainwaring banned from UCLA. But on this Tuesday in June 2016, only a dozen or so anonymous men and women stretch and tick off laps. In December, a former training partner of Benjamin's had encouraged him to reach out to Outside the Lines. They say their coach used his Olympic credentials, coaching achievements, relationships with accomplished athletes and expertise in psychology and physiology to persuade them to train with him, often at no charge. Founded in 1916, it is one of the oldest privately owned, all-boys camps in the nation. He's totally different," the friend said. The coach preached sobriety and celibacy, citing booze and girls as obstacles to athletic success. Ms. Levine, who grew up in the Bronx in the 1930s, first aspired to become a public-school teacher. The university manages NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and it is perennially viewed as one of the nation's top tech schools -- the MIT of the West. Most notably, he allegedly hadn't stopped abusing young athletes. Posts Videos Tagged What did you do?" The men now range in age from 22 to 59. There's not gonna be any more boys. "Conrad, do you know who this is? We would always say Victor had a certain sense of loving and being kind to people. ", On one hand, Oliver said, it was a smart staffing decision to hire Mainwaring, whose name he didn't use on the recording. ", Mainwaring works his hands under Benjamin's underwear: "To get the deep muscles, I need direct contact with the skin.". Five other local high school students say they were molested by Mainwaring during the same time period. the man says. DECADES AFTER HER eldest son confided that he had been molested by Conrad Mainwaring and then died a few days later in a hiking accident, 78-year-old Nisha Zenoff sits on a couch in her Northern California home. But deputizing this person was "a bad thing at the same time, because I wasn't totally aware of all the things that were going on. Senior campers said they were expected to read the New York Times in full each Sunday in order . Sitting on the back deck of his home outside Syracuse last fall, Druger says the full gravity of the abuse didn't hit him until the past few years. He never replied. Hittin' me with an umbrella! "This is Conrad," Mainwaring begins. Victor was the youngest, just 12. "There were several times when I watched him give my peers hand jobs," he says. She reluctantly closed the camp to focus on her work at the American Jewish Congress. They proceeded to reorganize the camp with a new vision - one that focused upon individual care, instruction, and fun. The land was purchased in the fall of 1915, and its opening summer was 1916. It was about 8:30 on the East Coast -- but he had designs on waking up Conrad Mainwaring three time zones to the west, using a number he found online. Inside the apartment, Mainwaring has Benjamin lie on his back. But he was neither a professor nor, formally, a counselor. That influenced my thinking., Naomi Levine, Lawyer Who Helped Transform N.Y.U., Dies at 97, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/07/nyregion/naomi-levine-dead.html. ", The coach said the boy needed to give him a hug. Because the allegation did not include a claim of penetration, the sexual battery was what is referred to as a "wobbler," meaning it might not be charged by prosecutors as a felony. Mainwaring works at Camp Greylock for Boys. Police deemed it a hiking accident. He had that dimple. What are you, 7 years old? As one said, "He was like a virus, a contagion.". As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Her condo overlooks Richardson Bay in affluent Tiburon. Ms. Levine in the 1970s greeting David Ben-Gurion, the former prime minister of Israel, on an American Jewish Congress trip to Tel Aviv. His bar mitzvah conversation led to a call with a federal agent in New York, which led to a call with the FBI in Los Angeles. CAMP GREYLOCK FOR GIRLS 1921-1971. Rachel Bujalski for ESPN. Tripp Lake Camp is an all-girls camp for ages 7-16 that runs for about eight weeks, costing $11,100. The article said that Mainwaring's job would make him "available for more one-to-one interactions with the students.". And then third, you've got to come to church with me once.". After several unsuccessful attempts to reach the camp's current owners, Outside the Lines received an email from an attorney who said the latest iteration of the camp has never had any "affiliation whatsoever with Mainwaring." Mainwaring works at the California Institute of Technology, or Caltech. Greylock is the Northeast's preeminent traditional residential summer camp for boys, entering its The young girls today think differently, and theyre right., Summing up her view, she said: Womens lib is probably correct, but its not my style.. With Mainwaring. She's fighting back tears. After that, his parents bought him a used highway patrol car, thinking it would be "a safe tank," but he was pulled over driving faster than 100 mph. "Do you train with this guy?" It was overcast, and the rush of Exposition Boulevard traffic was audible from a hundred yards off. You can contact us year round or request info online. Benjamin hesitates, partly because his coach, a former Olympian and trainer of elite athletes, always has demanded secrecy: Our training is our business. Robert Bender, who met Mainwaring on his first day at Syracuse, says the coach had a "powerful way of pulling you in.". He concluded, "Hundreds of years of history, people, stories and events. I knew I deserved to be there because I was as smart as, and often smarter than, everyone else in the room, she once said. . Above all else, he just wanted to make the UCLA team. And by finishing the call by saying, "Good luck." With cameras rolling and the reporter asking about the many men who accused him of sexual abuse, Mainwaring beelined across the parking lot. Naomi Ruth Bronheim was born on April 15, 1923, in the Bronx to Nathan and Malvina (Mermelstein) Bronheim. Ms. Levine, second from left, in the 1950s at an American Jewish Congress Womens Division event, with Eleanor Roosevelt at her left. It occurs to Benjamin that he actually doesn't know his coach's full name. Producer Greg Amante, associate producer Tonya Malinowski and researcher John Mastroberardino of ESPN's investigative unit contributed to this report. "But for me, it was always an unfinished piece of business. Rachel Bujalski for ESPN. ", After Victor died, Nisha says, she vowed to her then-husband and others that she would go after "this son of a bitch, wherever he is.". IN THE SUMMER of 1975, the textile hub of Leicester, England, a gloomy, downtrodden city 100 miles north of London, had little to offer 15-year-old Vernon Sharples. Everybody seemed to like him, and he excelled in most sports -- basketball, baseball, tennis, soccer. "You are a false teacher," Brian says. Yes this is what summer camp should look like smiles from ear to ear! The call lasts about 15 minutes. "I was just seduced by his interest," he says. California Institute of Technology Archives, Michael Waxman, Robert Bender and Vernon Sharples, Photos by Rachel Bujalski and Susannah Ireland (Sharples portrait) for ESPN, Michigan State secrets extend far beyond Larry Nassar case, Nassar surrounded by adults who enabled his behavior, The short, unhappy life of the Alliance of American Football, A new threat for the NFL and all of football. Victor was dead, found at the bottom of a 600-foot cliff. He told Allinson to relax: "You need to be able to focus, and you need to learn how to slow your heartbeat down. The men who ran the camp when Mainwaring worked there are dead. Divided equally between junior and senior campers, Greylock features a varied program of arts and adventure, land sports, and watersports. "I was aware that he was going to the Olympics because he used to come into the shop and try and get a bit of stuff for free," says Sharples, now a slender, balding 59-year-old. His boss, Robert Oliver, would note that Mainwaring was "very charming, but he didn't volunteer very much information, so I had to get most of what I needed to know by kind of dragging it out of him." Mainwaring competes for Antigua-Barbuda in the 110m and 400m hurdles during the Montreal Summer Olympics. Mainwaring was an avid reader and classical music aficionado who seemed, at least to a kid from Leicester, to know everything. He's a serial child molester, and he molested me when I was at UCLA. It's tranquil and picturesque -- a stark contrast to the dark hole in her life all these years later. In addition to her daughter, Ms. Levine is survived by two granddaughters and a great-granddaughter. As O'Boyle parks and walks toward the track, he hasn't decided whether he'll record the confrontation. The Camp Greylock, located in Ferrisburgh, VT, is a childcare facility that supervises and cares for children. Camp Greylock spreads across 300 acres near the town of Becket, a bucolic setting of top-flight sports facilities -- 15 tennis courts, five baseball fields, three soccer fields, two 100-yard flag football fields, an in-line hockey rink, a nine-hole golf course, a climbing wall, a zip line, a lake and a weight room -- and cabins nestled amid abundant forest. A mail boat would deliver copies of The Times to the camp, and Ms. Levine moderated discussions about current events with campers in a dining hall. Eventually, Mainwaring masturbates Benjamin to completion. But once Druger opened up, there was no stopping him. 's note: Emphasis is in the original.] Before long, Mainwaring taught Nosenko about mental strength and began discussing testosterone levels, the purported connection between erections and athletic performance, and the importance of abstaining from masturbation. He pleads not guilty. Thank you Mom and thank you England!". Initially, Nosenko loved what he found. Rachel Bujalski for ESPN. I need to talk with you tomorrow.". But Victor changed over three summers at camp. Fourteen men say they were molested during this time. One time, he rolled his car and nearly killed himself. Brian came out from Colgate, and after a workout, Mainwaring gave him a massage and masturbated him, again couched as part of mental training. The network of men accusing Mainwaring jelled. Early on June 19, Los Angeles police arrested Mainwaring on one felony count of sexual battery by fraud, punishable by up to four years in prison. Divided equally between junior and senior campers, Greylock features a varied program of arts and adventure, land sports, and watersports. He refused comment, other than to accuse the reporter of harassment. from its nadir, which is at the advent of her arrival, to where it was in 2000 and beyond, knows that she was one of the key generators of those forces.. And O'Boyle makes the 45-minute drive to UCLA. His efforts to walk on to the UCLA track team haven't worked out, but under Mainwaring, his running times have improved, buoying his goal of making his country's national team. The coach pushed his mental training, and he was adamant there should be no girlfriends and no sex. Oliver is now dead, but in an audio oral history recorded in 1988, he clearly was describing Mainwaring when he talked about hiring an associate master of student housing who was "doing a dissertation at Syracuse. Citizens in Camp Greylock, Massachusetts should be aware of illegal activities surrounding police brutality among their police departments and take actions against them. I think a lot of that has to do with society being more open to what is and is not a crime when it comes to all spectrums of sexual assault.". He had a word for messing around with members of the opposite sex: wenching. He was hired as the associate master of student housing, essentially the No. Some of the members were UCLA students, some were not and some were Olympic-level athletes who had finished college. He goes to his computer and searches for any information on performance and masturbation and testosterone levels. During his time in Syracuse, Mainwaring also kept office hours as a counselor at nearby Nottingham High School, according to two men who say they were minors when he abused them there. had reinvented itself as it expanded through Lower Manhattan. Editor's note: This story, which appeared originally on Aug. 1, 2019, is being republished with the debut of The Running Man, a new podcast series about the Mainwaring case from ESPN Investigates. Get Ready for Camp. Eventually, Bender says, the training turned physical, with the coach conducting "physiotherapy" that led to inappropriate touching. Camp Greylock, located in Becket, is described on the camp's website as "the Northeast's preeminent traditional residential summer camp for boys, entering its 100th summer on Center Lake, in . She decided to pursue law instead. The stranger keeps talking, but the words are mostly a blur to Benjamin. ", More than 40 years later, Sharples can't recall how long the alleged abuse lasted. Some of the fastest humans have run there, from Jackie Joyner-Kersee to Maurice Greene. MARGOLIS-Bert. About two weeks later, Benjamin works up the nerve to tell his parents, who encourage him to file a report with authorities. Michael and Lukas immediately started rebuilding the camp's infrastructure and improving the facility. Family Camp - Father/Son Weekend. "I have heard a few comments since 2016, [but] to tell the truth, I didn't believe them," he says, adding that he was "fully surprised by the accusations." -- and at other times seething over the memory of a woman who supposedly betrayed him. How do you get these boys to believe in you so much? Many described a Faustian bargain driven by their desire for athletic success, combined with a sense that Mainwaring was truly their friend, their mentor, their guide on a journey toward a better life. The freshman was struck by how Mainwaring would "alternate between being really smiley, laughy and exuberant," then turn on this "dead-on kind of expression [that looked] like he's kind of burrowing in to you psychologically, he's penetrating you psychologically. In all, seven men told Outside the Lines they were sexually abused by Mainwaring when they were campers or junior counselors at Camp Greylock in the mid-to-late 1970s. At the time, N.Y.U. At Camp Greylock on Raquette Lake, senior girls were expected to study their copies of the Sunday New York Times and be prepared to discuss current events in the evening. "Speaking of the UK," Stephens wrote, "I have some Conrad Mainwaring gossip for you!". He has to do something. Ms. Levine hoped one day to show the 1933 film version of Little Women. In 2016 she told The Palm Beach Daily News that Katharine Hepburns headstrong portrayal of the main character, Jo March, had inspired her when she saw the movie as a girl. "Like cults use the Bible, he used it in a way that he knew had pull with me. He says he and a counselor he's been seeing "are pretty sure I experienced an event while I was young. In the spring of 1990, 18 months after he was fired from Caltech, Mainwaring was hired by the University of Southern California to work in its Disability Services and Programs office. DRAKE STADIUM'S NINE dark azure lanes make up one of the most recognizable surfaces in track. Mainwaring wouldn't charge Nosenko for his services, but there were three requirements. as I requested in my last letter," he wrote, adding, "I do not wish anyone at all to know this." Always.". She contributed to the civil rights movement as a lawyer, then found a second career as chief fund-raiser at New York University. Ability to do so is an indication of high testosterone, Mainwaring says. Afterward, the coach presented another "mental challenge." Outside the Lines begins investigating Mainwaring, eventually identifying 41 alleged victims. In 1995, Michael Marcus and Lukas Horn purchased the assets of the former Camp Greylock for Boys, Inc. "I couldn't even think. He had partied heavily in high school and was in emotional upheaval when he got to college. Outside the Lines spoke with several other men who say they trained with Mainwaring and had only positive experiences. August 11 through August 13, 2023. "He got me and my good friend at Camp Greylock in 1977. Daycare services support parents and guardians by caring for children too young to be left alone, most often children too young to attend school or school-aged children that require before or after school care. Mainwaring refused to answer questions and did not respond to several subsequent interview attempts. Her mother was a hospital secretary, her father a salesman. Jim Mason. "He was sort of like a hero figure to my brother," Zenoff says. Victor was easygoing and affable. Greylock parent Nate has had a simply spectacular experience - from how the boys treat one another, to the focus on skill building, (including the tremendous growth I've seen in my own son in certain sports as well as in his leadership), to the tremendous camp spirit, the sensitive and supportive way Mike handled a death in the family, to . He is planning to confront Mainwaring for abusing him 11 years ago. We stress the importance of citizenship, sportsmanship, fair play, and friendship. A few days later, a man who asked to be referred to as Max is about to take a walk when his phone rings. Tripp Lake Camp in Poland, ME costs $11,100 for the summer. De Santo was a niche celebrity. "I ask you to forgive me," Mainwaring says. Reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada confronts Mainwaring outside the public track where the coach was training athletes earlier this year. Max writes down what he wished he had said: "Good luck as you proceed down a path for good rather than one of destruction. "I went to prostitutes and massage parlors and reenacted my experience with you. The athletic fields at Camp Greylock were surrounded by woods, as seen in this map from a camp yearbook. BY 1980, MAINWARING was 28, had landed at Syracuse University in upstate New York and was pursuing a master's degree in counseling and guidance. "Coach Avondale," Benjamin says. Fourteen men, including Robert Bender (above), now allege they were molested during this time. Mainwaring tries to walk away a couple of times, with the aid of a walker he has used since having hip surgery the year before. Tripp Lake Camp. As startling as the sheer number of accusations was the fact that for years Mainwaring -- who rejected repeated interview requests -- remained a cipher, a man with almost no public footprint who was able to stay one step ahead of the allegations and the law. Bethany Mollenkof for ESPN. ", Some of the longest and most detailed comments came from Vernon Sharples, in the U.K. "I've had a long time to process everything," he wrote. ", But things soon unraveled for Mainwaring at Caltech. In the decade after his departure from USC, Mainwaring kept an even lower profile than he had in the past -- back when he was telling Vernon Sharples to keep his whereabouts a secret. Adrenaline floods his brain. Sharples didn't need much persuading; he felt honored. Camp History. A few days later, officers knocked on Nisha Zenoff's front door. Until recently, Druger says, he compartmentalized the darker parts of the relationship while crediting Mainwaring with helping to improve his life in some ways. It was an open invitation. He framed it so well as training like, this is training, it's not sex.". He comes up empty and texts a friend: "Something weird just happened. PRICE: $11,850. If Mainwaring was still involved with boys or young men, it would be a matter for the LAPD. "I think he goes after heterosexual men, having a homosexual act with a heterosexual man, and you feel ashamed about it.
