PHOENIX - The owner of two Phoenix gymnastics centers was notified sanctions and suspension would be lifted by USA Gymnastics, according to a release from Arizona Sunrays Gymnastics Saturday.
Allegations of sexual misconduct landed Daniel Witenstein on the USA Gymnastics suspension list. Arizona Sunrays Gymnastics said they hope USA Gymnastics will quickly remove his name from the list "pending investigation."
“I am deeply grateful for all the support shown to me by family, friends, neighbors, past and present members of the Arizona Sunrays family and the entire gymnastics community," Dan Witenstein said in the news release. "I appreciate the opportunity to have the issue of temporary sanctions addressed promptly and, of course, am gratified with the decision. I can’t wait to get back to work."
USA Gymnastics cited bylaw 9.3, which lines out the process of reporting and investigating allegations of sexual misconduct, as the grounds behind the July 10 suspension.
Witenstein has gyms in North Phoenix and Arcadia.
All this came in the wake of the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal.
12 News spoke with Witenstein in February, at a gymnastics invitational about parents entrusting their children to athletic organizations.
“I think you have to look into the organization, how they take care of things and you know, what’s important to them,” Witenstein said.
On its Facebook page, Witenstein’s business boasted more than 25 years of gymnastics programming for children as young as six months to teenagers.
The USA Gymnastics suspension list categorized Witenstein as “suspended from all contact” under suspension type.
Staff at the gym told 12 News management informed them Witenstein would be gone temporarily.
The mother of a gym member told 12 News in a message, Arizona Sunrays told her about the allegation, adding, “We give our full trust and support to Dan Witenstein and the Sunrays
Family!”
Witenstein is the second USA Gymnastics member here in the valley under suspension. In June, the corporation added 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Alex Naddour of Gilbert to the same list, also with grounds pertaining to sexual misconduct.