Drugs and alcohol given to minors who were sexually abused at SC gym, lawyers say

Minors were plied with drugs and alcohol, sexually abused, groped and threatened not to tell by the owner of a Greenville cheer gym, lawyers for the minors said Tuesday.

At a news conference outside the U.S. Courthouse in Greenville, lawyers from the Strom Law Firm in Columbia and Bannister, Wyatt and Stalvey in Greenville outlined the basics of a lawsuit they expect to file later this week against Scott Foster, owner of Rockstar Cheer, Varsity Sports and U.S. All Star Federation.

Foster is the focus of a law enforcement investigation that continues even though he killed himself Aug. 22, attorney James Bannister said. He declined to say what agency was investigating.

Foster, 49, opened Rockstar Cheer in 2007 and was a cheerleading coach at other gyms since he moved to Greenville in 1999. He was a cheerleader at the University of Louisville., where he majored in criminal justice.

The lawyers said girls and boys were abused, most of them in Greenville County, but also on road trips to other states for competitions sponsored by U.S. All Star Federation. Bakari Sellers, an attorney with Strom, said the minors were sexually abused in bathrooms and hotel rooms.

Sellers declined to say how many people they are representing — “multiple” was all they’d say— and some are as far away as California.

“This has been bubbling up here for a long time,” Bannister said.

Sellers predicted when the investigation is complete, it will be as big as USA Gymnastics and Michigan State, in which Larry Nassar, an orthopedic doctor for both entities, was convicted of assaulting hundreds of young women and girls on the US Olympic team over 18 years.

Bannister said the Rockstar investigation began six to eight weeks ago when some young girls reported what had happened to them.

“I don’t think we’d be here today if not for those young girls,” he said.

Foster knew he would have to face his victims, Bannister said.

Attorney Jessica Fickling of the Strom firm, said Foster had “unbridled power” and took advantage of children.

“This stops right now,” she said. “It’s now our job to take care of these individuals.”

Sellers said at least one other coach is suspected of having sex with a minor.

He said law enforcement officers have Foster’s phone and computers. Foster was also seen on social media, specifically Snapchat, drinking with underage people.

Bannister said when some of the cheerleaders talked about what was going on, staff at Rockstar “made life miserable” for them and accused them of spreading lies.

There were also specific threats, which he declined to name.

Sellers called Foster’s actions “disgusting behavior.”

“It happened right under our noses,” he said.

Bannister said of the other entities cited, they knew or should have known what was happening.

In some cases, adults brought children to Foster or helped cover up the behavior, he said.

“They did nothing,” Bannister said.

Cheerleading gyms across the country have removed Rockstar Cheer from their names and branding in light of the allegations.

The gym owners said Monday they have no relationship with the Greenville gym other than sharing the name. They said they paid a fee to use the name and branding, but management and operations have been separate from the start.

The gyms are located in Charleston and Columbia as well as in North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and New Jersey.

This story was originally published August 30, 2022 at 1:12 PM.