How Did He Get Away with Abusing Boys for 40 Years?

At the February 2024 plea hearing in Massachusetts, plaintiffs described how, when they were young, Mainwaring promised them a dream of becoming elite athletes like himself, then told them they’d first have to overcome a natural distaste for his unconventional methods, which included crossing sexual boundaries. If they did, they might make the coveted “squad” of his finest athletes.

“Sadly, Conrad Mainwaring derailed that dream for many of us,” said survivor David Sweet, now 60, retired from a career in Child Protective Services.

The training, Mainwaring instructed, was necessary for young athletes to learn how to “control and manipulate erections and testosterone levels to maximize their athletic performance.” He told the boys not to discuss his methods with anyone. And he chose heterosexual boys because they would most likely be too ashamed to admit what was going on.

For 44 years, he was right.

After competing in the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, Mainwaring moved from Antigua (Antigua-Barbuda) to Massachusetts and became a counselor at Camp Greylock, a youth sports camp in the Berkshire Mountains. Later, he coached at Syracuse University in New York and nearby Nottingham High School, then on the West Coast at Caltech and UCLA.

One survivor, John Shapiro, said he was 11 when the grooming started at Camp Greylock; it would continue another 12 years until he was at Syracuse University.

“It’s years of anguish and turmoil,” Shapiro said. “I would have recurring nightmares. My wife would wake me up. I’d be screaming at the top of my lungs. I battle with addictions. I battle with depression.”