13 July 2023 , 11:03
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A former Olympian and legendary equestrian has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 17-year-old after being charged with grooming his teenage student into an illegal relationship.
Rich Fellers, 63, pleaded guilty to interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of second-degree sexual abuse in a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon.
The ex-Olympic show jumper is expected to be sentenced to four years in prison on the federal charges, according to local CBS affiliate station KOIN.
He was arrested in 2021 for sexually abusing one of his students when she was 17-years-old.
Victim Maggie Kehring has spoken out publicly about the abuse and described Fellers as a sort of father figure. She moved to an apartment of her own at 15 to be near his barn and training centre.
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Fellers' victim Maggie Kehring has spoken out about the grooming (CBS This Morning)She said that she was just 16 when Fellers began grooming her and they had sex after her 17th birthday.
The 'relationship' continued until Fellers' wife caught them together at an Airbnb, Bloomberg reported.
Fellers was widely revered in the equestrian community.
He competed in the 2012 US Summer Olympics, and police said he is well-known in the equestrian industry. Feller was listed on the Team USA website as placing sixth in team show jumping and eighth in individual show jumping in the 2012 Olympics.
He is expected to be sentenced to four years in prison (Washington County Jail)When news of Fellers' actions spread, many in the equestrian community lashed out at his victim, Ms Kehring told the Chronicle of Horse in a previous interview.
Her lawyer said she is owed an apology by those people.
Fellers and his wife were added to the US Center for SafeSport’s list of suspensions, which was established by Congress in 2017 to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct in Olympic sports. It was set up in the wake of the horrific Larry Nassar abuse stories.
Fellers faces four years in jail after admitting guilt (Getty Images Europe)“For all the horrible people in the equestrian community that said terrible things about Maggie, I think there can be no clearer vindication for what she’s been through [than this],” Kehring’s attorney Russell Prince told the Chronicle on Wednesday. “There’s quite a few people who owe Maggie Kehring and the Kehring family some heartfelt apologies.”
Ms Kehring told the Chronicle “the public record speaks for itself”.
Since Fellers' arrest, Ms Kehring and her family launched a social media campaign to raise awareness around issues of sexual misconduct in the sport, named “#WeRideTogether.”
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