Athlete Accused of Abuse Had Harassed Other Paralympians, Lawsuit Claims

At the last Paralympic Games, in Tokyo, Parker Egbert reached the height of his athletic career, competing for the United States in two swimming events. But Mr. Egbert, 21, has since walked away from the sport. He said in a federal lawsuit in 2022 that he was repeatedly physically and sexually abused by his Paralympic teammate, including at the Tokyo Games.

With another Paralympics now underway in Paris, he is asserting that the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee knowingly put him in danger by assigning him to room with the teammate, whose conduct at least six other athletes had previously complained about to the U.S.O.P.C., according to a new court filing from Egbert’s lawyers. Among the complaints, according to the filing, was a report of sexual misconduct made by another Paralympic swimmer a year before the Tokyo Games.

“Parker is thrilled to see his teammates fulfill their dreams, but he also feels a devastating loss because he will never return to competitive swimming after the horrific abuse he endured,” Mr. Egbert’s mother, Laura Egbert, said in a statement to The New York Times.

“We were shocked to find out during discovery in this lawsuit the number, and severity, of complaints that other athletes made,” she said. Egbert is now seeking punitive damages against the U.S.O.P.C., which manages U.S. Paralympics Swimming.

A spokesman for the organization said it took athlete safety and all reports of abuse seriously but declined to comment on Egbert’s claims because the lawsuit is ongoing.

Two years after sports safety authorities received Mr. Egbert’s report of abuse, that case also remains unresolved. The delay has renewed concerns about the effectiveness of that complaint system, created in 2017 in response to the revelation that the former physician for the American gymnastics team, Lawrence G. Nassar, had sexually abused hundreds of gymnasts.