Was it training or sexual battery? Case against former NC gymnastics coach to go to jury.

Stretching, spotting and the world of elite gymnastics took center stage as the trial of the former owner of Bull City Gymnastics drew to a close Thursday afternoon.

Stephen Maness is charged with four counts of indecent liberties with a child and four counts of sexual battery. On Thursday, the final witness took the stand and Maness chose not to testify in his defense. Deliberations could start Thursday afternoon.

During the trial in Durham County Superior Court, former students testified both for and against Maness. To some, his “hands-on” coaching opened up a world of gold medals and collegiate athletics. For others, his touching on the buttocks, hips and groin area left a lasting emotional impact.

Maness coached at Bull City Gymnastics in Durham between 2012 and 2020, when his accusers say the inappropriate touching took place. At the time, the four gymnasts who testified against him were all under the age of 16.

Melissa Owen, Maness’s defense attorney, emphasized her client’s tough coaching style. According to one former gymnast who testified for the defense, Maness was known to yell, become angry, and throw water bottles and mats during practices.

“Stephen Maness had no sexual intent,” Owen told the jury of six women and six men. “He touched these kids as a gymnastics coach.”

“I think we can all agree in our lives that context matters,” she said.

Stretching sessions

One of the major points in the case revolved around one-on-one stretching sessions Maness held with some of his most elite gymnasts.

During these sessions, the prosecution alleged that Maness touched girls under their leotards. Traditional attire for gymnasts at practice is a leotard with a sports bra and no underwear, according to a witness who testified for the prosecution.

While Maness’s lawyers argued that this is standard procedure for gymnasts at this level, the prosecution argued that Maness “crossed the line.”

Both sides presented videos of Maness during practice.

In several videos, Maness momentarily touches gymnasts as they practice and learn new skills. He is seen touching their hips, chests, pubic areas, arms, shoulders and backs as the girls perform tricks on the vault and uneven bars.

Owen argued still photos that Assistant District Attorney Brooks Stone presented did not provide enough context.

“Everything about a male for a 13-year-old is weird,” she said. “Of course they felt weird, and, realistically, I think there is a good question about what is sexual assault.”

But feeling “weird” is not enough to convict Maness, she continued. The law states that sexual assault must be based on intent, and Maness did not get sexual gratification from the touching, she said.

Owen’s partner, co-counsel William Simpson also spoke to the jury about the threshold of reasonable doubt.

There is no question that Maness touched the children, Simpson said. But, he argued, there is no evidence indicating Maness touched them for sexual arousal or gratification.

“He is helping these gymnasts learn the shapes they need to learn for the skills they are trying to learn,” he said.

“No one experienced this as a sexual assault at the time it was happening,” he added, calling into question the recollection of the girls who were as young as 10 at the time of the touching.

As for testimony that some of the gymnasts sang a “Stranger Danger” song about Maness, Owen argued: “They weren’t serious about it. They didn’t think when they were joking around that Stephen Maness could go to jail for it.”

Maness was removed from the gym after an anonymous tip was sent to The U.S. Center for Safe Sport, a governing body that oversees coaches in U.S. sports.

‘Normalized intimacy’

Stone said the photos and videos presented during the trial did not capture all of Maness’s behavior with the girls.

“These are things the defendant did when he knew he was being recorded,” he told the jury.

Brooks alleged that Maness “normalized intimacy” with the girls by kissing their foreheads, spooning them at sleepovers and telling them he loved them.

“What the defendant did was grooming, and this is how sexual abuse occurs,” he said.

“His physical touch was constant and normalized,” he said.

“The defendant stuck his hands in these girls’ leotards. He rubbed their pubic areas, he pressed his hands and rubbed their vaginas,” Stone said.

Maness also didn’t touch every girl the same way, Stone said, alleging that Maness “carefully selected his victims.”

“They have no motive to lie. They have nothing to gain,” he added. “The most difficult path for these girls has been to tell the truth.”

“They didn’t put themselves through all of this for a made-up story,” Stone said.

Discussion of Larry Nassar

Before the trial began, Judge Josephine Davis ruled that discussion of defamed USA Gymnastics physician and convicted sexual predator Larry Nassar be barred from testimony.

Davis stated that mention of Nassar would be too prejudicial for the jury and did not relate to the case at hand.

In 2016, Nassar was accused of sexually abusing dozens of gymnasts throughout his lengthy career as a team physician for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University gymnastics.