Varsity Brands, PE Owner Face $200M Suit Claiming Systemic Sexual Abuse

Parents of a Georgia cheerleader have filed a staggering lawsuit against Varsity Brands, its former private-equity owner, USA Cheer, and others seeking more than $200 million over claims their minor daughter was sexually exploited, drugged, and filmed by her longtime cheer coach.

The suit was filed in Georgia state court last month on behalf of their daughter, referred to as Jane Doe. It was served to the defendants last week, a person familiar with the matter tells Front Office Sports. In addition to Varsity Brands, its former owner Bain Capital, and USA Cheer, the suit names as defendants multiple other cheer organizations, the Walton County School District (where Jane Doe attended high school), the coach who allegedly abused her, two Atlanta-area cheer gyms, and more. 

Local Atlanta outlet 11Alive was the first to report the suit. 

KKR, the private-equity firm that bought Varsity brands from Bain Capital in 2024 for a reported price of $4.75 billion, including debt, is not named as a defendant. KKR declined to comment, and Bain Capital did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The suit contains explicit allegations and 18 causes of action, including RICO claims, under which the defendants are accused of operating an organized enterprise that systematically enabled and concealed rape, sexual abuse, drug use, and exploitation of young athletes.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of Jane Doe but claims hundreds of young athletes have been harmed, the defendants coordinated to “create an unending pipeline” of young athletes who were abused, including by encouraging parents to send their children to host families who were either coaches, gym owners, or people who lived near Varsity Brands–sponsored gyms.

“The system overall is designed to disassociate the athletes from their families and foster closeness” with gyms, gym owners, and coaches associated with Varsity Brands, according to the complaint.

A spokesperson for Varsity Brands tells FOS “children should always be protected and safe, and no child should ever experience the kind of abuse alleged in this lawsuit.” 

“While we find these claims to be abhorrent, Varsity categorically rejects any claim that it enabled such behavior,” the spokesperson says. “The individual named in this lawsuit was never a Varsity employee, and Varsity did not own or operate the gyms referenced in the complaint. Varsity is deeply committed to safety, which guides everything we do; any suggestion otherwise is untrue.”

Jane Doe was specifically abused by Charles Archibald Moore, who is named as a defendant and was a cheerleading coach at multiple gyms in the Atlanta area affiliated with defendants including Varsity Brands, as well as the high school she attended, the complaint says. The lawsuit alleges that Varsity Brands, USA Cheer, and others were part of a system that enabled and concealed abuse, although they are separate entities.

The suit asserts that Varsity Brands effectively controls “every aspect of cheer at every level in the United States.”

“All defendants failed to implement reasonable safeguards to avoid acts of unlawful sexual conduct” by Moore, the suit says.

Moore was arrested in June 2024, over a similar allegation; the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office charged him with one count of sexual exploitation while he worked at Star Athletics—which is also named as a defendant in the suit. Moore was being held in jail in Barrow County until Thursday, when he was released and sent to Gwinnett County, the sheriff’s office tells FOS. Gwinnett is where the new lawsuit was filed. The sheriff’s office in Gwinnett did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

“Even today, Moore has not been permanently suspended,” the suit says.

“USA Cheer takes all reports of misconduct seriously and we are horrified by what has been alleged,” a spokesperson for USA Cheer tells FOS. “We can confirm that the individual named has never been a member of USA Cheer. While we do not oversee individual gyms, our focus remains on promoting athlete safety and education across the cheer community.”

Varsity Brands has had a turbulent last few years featuring multiple lawsuits, including other sex abuse suits in federal court in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and more. Additionally, it faced an antitrust class action in Tennessee federal court that settled for $82.5 million last year. That suit, brought by parents of cheerleaders, alleged the defendants held a monopoly over cheerleading events and overcharged for apparel, in violation of antitrust laws. 

Before that, in 2023, Varsity agreed to pay $43.5 million to settle a suit led by Fusion Elite All Stars, a California-based operator of cheerleading gyms. That suit was originally filed in 2020, and it featured similar allegations to the one that settled for $82.5 million. It is still fighting an antitrust lawsuit in Texas federal court that was filed in 2023 by cheer competition producer Open Cheer. 

The company had sought to turn the page from its legal issues this summer with the announcement of the “world’s first” pro cheerleading league. In June, it revealed its subsidiary Varsity Spirit—also a defendant in the latest lawsuit—would launch the Pro Cheer League next year, with initial teams in Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, and San Diego.