Mat Mladin?? Wtf?

[deanp]

In disbelief:

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/ex-ama-superbike-champ-mat-mladin-accused-of-child-sex-crimes/

[Steve Carlton]

Stunning. If true, I hope he spends the rest of his life in prison.

[javadog]

Yeah, I know some people in the racing world and WTF barely describes the general reaction.

[Bob Kontak]

Takes some effort to figure out how to eff a <10 year old.

You're not supposed to do that.

[javadog]

Yeah, I never could wrap my head around how anyone could go there. Just doesn't compute.

[dewolf]

He's fcuked when he goes to prison here.

[deanp]

I think I read the headline three times before I clicked to read the article. It’s just unfathomable.

[Jeff Higgins]

Remember, kids, all of our sports heroes are only human. Some of them not very good ones.

Just because he can ride a motorcycle quickly, or dunk a basketball, or hit home runs, or any number of other physical feats, does not mean he is all there mentally. And us slobbering, slathering sports fans keep telling them they are demigods, often ignoring even obvious signs of their deviancies so we can watch them play. Even after they get caught. Look at guys like Michael Vick - welcomed back into the NFL with open arms after all he had done.

I bet guys who have spent time with Mladin have long suspected this, but were unwilling to rat out their heroic cash cow. And now they are acting all shocked and dismayed...

[javadog]

I know people on the team he raced with and they are as perplexed as the rest of us.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by dewolf

He's fcuked when he goes to prison here.

As he should be (if the allegations are true). He has always been an ass (on and off the track) with a massive attitude problem IMO. Never thought he'd go down "that" path though. Yeesh...

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by javadog

I know people on the team he raced with and they are as perplexed as the rest of us.

Of course they are.

Really - how would it look if any one of them came forward and said something like "I always suspected something"... but never said a word. I'm sure they are all as pure as the driven snow.

[deanp]

It goes without saying that within a group of people you’ll have some ‘bad actors’. This charge goes well beyond the things we see so often today - substance abuse, domestic abuse, sexual misconduct. Child molestation?? That’s an entirely different type of sinister and demented. I really hope we don’t learn it was a Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein type of situation where it was known or even suspected without being dealt with.

[rfuerst911sc]

You just never know what evil can be lurking under the surface . I hope his victims get the care they need . Very sad .

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Of course they are.

Really - how would it look if any one of them came forward and said something like "I always suspected something"... but never said a word. I'm sure they are all as pure as the driven snow.

You know, you have a bad habit of running your mouth off at times when you have zero first-hand knowledge of something. You know none of the people I was referencing, you've never met them, you couldn't even name their names.

But of course, they must have known.

Just STFU, for once.

[Mike Andrew]

I am a thriving survivor of such stuff. If the charges are proven, he should go away for a very long time and spend it in general population so he can experience the pain & humiliation he inflicted on others. And, no soap on a rope for him.

A ten year old has a lifetime to carry the burden of having been molested. Therapy helps us adjust but the memory always remains.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by javadog

You know, you have a bad habit of running your mouth off at times when you have zero first-hand knowledge of something. You know none of the people I was referencing, you've never met them, you couldn't even name their names.

But of course, they must have known.

Just STFU, for once.

Yup, just like none of Epstein's friends had any idea.

I bet most of us have met people in our lives that had some sort of a skeleton in their closet. Sometimes people we think we know quite well. People we worked with for years, family members, whatever.

Are these guys those people to you, or was Mladin that guy to all of them? We may never know where the extent of the knowledge ended.

It is, however, unusual for a group of guys to work closely together, travel together, hotel together, eat together - basically live together like family on the road - and not get inklings of each other's oddities. I learned this while working for decades under exactly those circumstances when I travelled the world in AOG. There are almost no secrets after awhile, no matter how hard someone might try to keep them.

[flatbutt]

Whomever knew whatever can be addressed during te investigation, Mladin, if guilty needs to go down hard for this. 10 years old? No defense under any circumstances.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

another load from Higgins

You just don't know when to quit, do you?

[sc_rufctr]

"a child under 10" ... If true that arse needs to spend decades in jail.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by javadog

You just don't know when to quit, do you?

There is no reason to "quit". We are having a conversation regarding this man's actions. It is only reasonable to question whether those who spent the most time with him might have had some inkling of this. Like flatbutt says, it will all come out in the investigation.

If it all comes out that his team knew nothing, which is entirely possible, then good on them. They would have nothing to be ashamed of. If the investigation determines that some or all of them knew, or even suspected, and failed to tell anyone, well then - while not equally culpable, they do share some of the guilt. We will just have to see how this plays out.