The state of Iowa is allowing an athletic trainer to keep his license after another state sanctioned him over allegations of improprieties with female college students.
Idaho state records indicate that in August 2021, Richard Bingham was working as an athletic trainer at the College of Southern Idaho when he was placed on administrative leave. The action was taken due to allegations of inappropriate interaction with female athletes, including members of the women’s volleyball team. The records indicate that at the time he was placed on leave, Bingham was the chairman of the Idaho Board of Athletic Trainers, which helps oversee the profession.
In December 2021, the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licensure subpoenaed documents from the College of Southern Idaho, seeking access to all records related to the school’s internal investigation.
According to the division, the records included complaints and interview transcripts that referenced allegations of Bingham slapping students on their thighs and buttocks with a hand or a tongue depressor; making inappropriate comments about students’ physical features; grabbing a female student’s buttocks; rubbing students’ thighs in an inappropriate manner; making unnecessary and inappropriate physical contact with students while applying topical treatments; pouring ice on a student’s back and buttocks; and making an inappropriate comment to a male baseball player about masturbation.
In March 2022, the division was informed Bingham had resigned and found employment in Iowa, where he had obtained a license to practice and was working for Moore Wellness Systems as an industrial athletic trainer.
In June 2022, Bingham and the Idaho division agreed to a disciplinary order requiring him to complete 12 hours of educational course work on professional ethics and boundaries and to write a report on what he had learned.
As part of that agreement, Bingham denied any wrongdoing but agreed that should he return to Idaho and resume practice there he must, for at least two years, have a chaperone present during all patient interactions.
Last week, the Iowa Board of Athletic Training, citing last year’s action by the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licensure, placed Bingham’s Iowa license on probation for two years, during which time he must have a chaperone present during all patient interactions.
Bingham did not return a message from Iowa Capital Dispatch seeking comment on Thursday.
The Iowa Capital Dispatch, like the Idaho Capital Sun, is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on Facebook and Twitter.
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