Michigan Women’s Assistant Gymnastics Coach Caught Having Sexual Relations With Female Team Member in Public

An assistant coach for the women’s gymnastics team at the University of Michigan has stepped down from his position after he was caught having sexual relations with one of the female members of the team.

On Oct. 8, Scott Vetere was seen performing a sex act on an 18-year-old female athlete in a car in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Ann Arbor, according to a University spokesman. “Mr. Vetere was immediately suspended the day we learned about the incident,” spokesman Kurt Svoboda told the newspaper. “He resigned from his position Oct. 15 during the disciplinary review process.”

Vetere will return to court on Nov. 14; he was arraigned on a charge of committing an indecent or obscene act in public. The female gymnast will also be punished with the same charge and is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 5. The University of Michigan has a policy that restricts romantic relationships between coaches and student-athletes.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Vetere was a former gymnast himself; the 39-year-old competed for Michigan and was a member of the 1999 national championship team. He was also named the university’s Male Athlete of the Year a year later, according to a 2004 alumni profile. “Scott Vetere was one of Michigan’s finest athletes,” according to the profile. “The list of accolades he accumulated during his five years in Ann Arbor is among the most impressive ever assembled by a Wolverine gymnast.”

Vetere was hired as an assistant coach for the women’s gymnastics team in July 2017. Vetere has a wife and three young daughters. The school has cut all ties with Vetere. “We are confident this was an isolated incident and that with his departure, it will not be repeated,” Svoboda tells MLive. “We do very thorough background searches for every employee here.”