Rumours of misconduct allegations at ATOS have been swirling over the last few days and now they’ve taken some concrete form, as Alexa Herse has given a public statement that makes direct allegations against the team’s founder and head coach Andre Galvao. Herse is one of the top young colored belt competitors in the US, and she has been representing ATOS for many years now. She even explains in her statement that Galvao was the one who actually awarded her with her grey belt as a child, that’s how long she has been training there.
Herse started her statement by explaining that she would no longer be associated with ATOS, before detailing her exact allegations:
“Within the past 6 months, I was made very uncomfortable on many occasions by Andre Galvao. He touched me inappropriately during training sessions. He repeatedly commented on my body and my appearance. During training sessions he would take me away from the training partner I chose for myself, send my partner away to train with someone else and he would make me train with him. He made sexual moaning sounds in my ear while he was on top of me. And in another instance, when his head was very close to my head he licked my ear.”
She went on to explain that although this is the first time she has made the allegations known publicly, she had already approached key leadership figures within the organisation:
”I reached out to Angelica Galvao, someone who I have always looked up to as a second mother and who has known and mentored me since I was a kid. Not only did she do nothing about it she told me not to say anything and told me that ‘if it’s wrong, you have to at least act like it’s right.’ and ‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you.’ She chose to ignore me, silence me, and protect her husband. But would you still feel this way if it was your daughter? Now she has chosen to discredit me and attempt to covered this up, which in my opinion makes her just as responsible.”
Herse then went on to say ‘I know for a fact that I am not the only victim of this. To the other girls, I hope this gives you the courage to come out.’ At the time of writing there are no further allegations against Andre Galvao that have been made public. In a recent statement by now-former ATOS black belt Rose Miller, she also referenced ‘girls’ and said that she is ‘supporting them in sharing when they’re ready.‘ Herse closed her statement off by adding that she has now filed a report with local law enforcement.
Alexa Herse detailed her allegations against Andre Galvao in a recent post to her official Instagram account and her full statement can be found below:
Just a few hours before Herse released her statement publicly, Andre Galvao actually addressed the rumours of allegations against him for the very first time. He described them as ‘false rumours’ and said that: ‘I will not engage in social media disputes, however, I will take the necessary measures to protect our community and my family’s name and I assure you that soon everything will come to light, especially the facts on why a few staff members left due to recent administrative and financial changes.’ Galvao’s full official statement can be found here:
