Cheer coaches suspended from the sport after lawsuit alleging sex abuse at SC Rockstar Cheer

A coach accused in a federal lawsuit of raping a 16-year-old while he was a coach at a Greenville cheer gym has been temporarily suspended by the national organization that oversees the sport.

Kenny Feeley, who worked at Rockstar Cheer and left to start his own cheer gym, Spring CTD, was suspended by US All Star Federation, as was Kathy Foster, whose husband Scott started Rockstar and killed himself shortly before the lawsuit was filed. The recently updated list posted by USASF says both were suspended until resolution of litigation.

Also suspended by USASF and named in the lawsuit were Josh Guyton, an international award winning cheerleader; Peter Holley; Nathan Allan Plank and Traevon (Tracy) Black.

Another coach, Christopher Hinton, is listed as permanently suspended.

All were Rockstar coaches at one time.

The federal lawsuit, filed by the Strom Law Firm in Columbia, accuses the coaches of sexual abuse and giving alcohol to underage athletes.

Feeley is accused of raping a 16-year-old girl and plying her with alcohol and marijuana.

Guyton, a stunter and tumbling coach, is accused of touching a 15-year-old girl so often she did not recognize it as sex abuse until she confided his actions to her mother. He identifies himself on Facebook as a two-time world champion cheerleader and two time world silver medalist.

He announced he was retiring from cheerleading in April, calling it a “crazy journey” of six years..

Plank now lives in Michigan, according to the USASF website. He was 24 when he sent nude photos and videos of himself masturbating to a 13-year-old girl, the lawsuit alleges. The same girl was pressured into giving Hinton oral sex when she was 14, the lawsuit alleges. Her mother reported the abuse to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, the lawsuit says.

Black and Holley were accused of pressuring a 16-year-old boy to send them nude pictures of himself.

The lawsuit also says defendants Bain Capital, Charlesbank, Varsity, USASF and USA Cheer knew of the various allegations but did nothing.

The lawsuit alleges athletes were transported across state lines and abused at events sanctioned by Varsity Spirit and the USASF. Both organizations were asked many times to investigate abuse, the lawsuit says..

The lawsuit alleges the organizations allowed minors to be assaulted in the pursuit of billions in profits.

Rockstar, which announced it has closed permanently, also faces a lawsuit by a girl who says Foster spent six months talking to her, sent her nude pictures of himself and asked for nude pictures of her before talking her into performing sex acts at his home, in his vehicle, at the gym and in hotels during competitions.

Foster also gave the girl alcohol, the lawsuit alleges.

Also named as defendants in the case are Rockstar Cheer and United States All Star Federation. It was filed in Greenville County state court by lawyers from Chappell, Smith and Arden of Columbia and Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey of Greenville.

Foster killed himself Aug. 22 while he sat in his vehicle at Paris Mountain State Park in Greenville County.

Lawyers have said Foster was aware of the investigation when he committed suicide.

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, as was Feeley.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been investigating the allegations contained in the lawsuits for about two months.