PORTLAND, OREGON: A prominent horse trainer, who competed in the 2012 Olympics, has admitted to sexually abusing his minor student. Richard Fellers pled guilty on Tuesday, July 11, and confessed that he traveled interstate to have sex with his teenage protege, Maggie Kehring.
According to KOIN 6 News, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office said that the 63-year-old accused was ready to be behind bars for 30 months on Washington County charges and he will also be in jail for four years on federal charges. The latest development in the case has come two years after Fellers was arrested in 2021 and was pressed with four counts of sexual abuse charges.
Who is Maggie Kehring?
Kehring, an athlete, was training under Fellers when he subjected her to the abuse. The two first met when she was 14. Describing her initial impression of Fellers, Kehring reportedly said in 2021, “I would’ve said that he’s an incredible rider, he’s an incredible horseman, he’s a great teacher, he’s a great person.”
However, after the abuse, Kehring deemed him “a sociopath.” Kehring also reportedly revealed that she was 16 when he revealed his intentions about her. She recalled, “I get this call and he says, 'I have these feelings for you, it's been building up the past six months, you can't tell anyone, I'm crazy about you.’ I sat in my room and cried the rest of the day.”
Kehring shared that after saying no to Fellers several times, she finally gave up. She asserted, “It shouldn't have happened. And I had said 'No' before it even started. I had said 'No' at the beginning, I had said 'No' multiple times.’”
‘What happened to me is something I can never get back’
In February 2021, Fellers and his wife, Shelley, were placed on the US Center For SafeSport’s suspension list because of “allegations of misconduct." At that time, Kehring reportedly said, “I know it is hard for my peers, friends, coaches, and strangers to understand the suspension of my former trainer and his wife. It is important to know this investigation and process has been underway for many, many months. I initially didn’t want to participate in the SafeSport process out of confusion and fear.”
“Reading what people have posted on social media is cruel and heartless. I can only hope what happened to me never happens to them or someone they love. No one needs to take sides. What happened to me is something I can never get back and I am working every day on coping with that realization,” Kehring continued.
Kehring added, “Things were taken from me that people will simply not understand. I don’t understand why me, either. But I can assure you of this, what happened, happened! There is no revenge, there are no lies. Just the pure and simple truth. I know my future holds people who will look at me with anger and those that will support me. Just know, I was a junior rider.”
