Barnstormers class-action settlement sets up million dollar fund for sex abuse victims of convicted ex-coach

A federal class-action lawsuit brought by youth basketball players who were potential sex abuse victims of former Iowa Barnstormers basketball coach Greg Stephen reached a settlement Friday that will establish a fund of over a $1 million for the athletes.

Guy Cook, lead attorney for an unnamed former Barnstormers Basketball of Iowa player who filed the suit in 2020, said the fund will be established for select former youth athletes affiliated with the Barnstormers and coached by “disgraced” Stephen from 2005 through 2018, and “fell victim to Stephen’s illicit acts of secretly procuring nude images of players.”

The settlement is pending court approval. The trial was set to start Monday in U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Iowa in Davenport.

Stephen, 44, of Monticello, was sentenced in 2019 to 180 years in federal prison. He pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual exploitation of a child and one count each of possession of child pornography and transportation of child pornography.

During the investigation, authorities found videos on a USB device taken by a hidden camera Stephen used to record naked players in a hotel room in Lombard, Ill., and Ankeny. They also recovered covert recording devices from his Monticello and Delhi homes.

Investigators said Stephen sexually exploited more than 400 boys over 20 years. With the Iowa Barnstormers, he coached promising young players who earned college scholarships, including to play at universities such as Iowa, Northern Iowa and Wisconsin.

The teens did not know they were being recorded, according to court documents.

Stephen also posed as teenage girls on social media to persuade the boys to send him explicit images, according to testimony in plea and sentencing hearings.

In February, a judge’s ruling that allowed all former and present members of the Barnstormers who were potential victims while Stephen was a coach made it easier for all to join the class action. Cook said then it should help advance a settlement of the case.

“In addition, BBI has also agreed, as part of the settlement, to the principle of strict adherence to appropriate youth protection protocols and policies to safeguard the welfare of youth athletes and to prevent misconduct of volunteers,” Cook said of the deal. “This settlement is outstanding news for the former Barnstormer players and all future youth athletes.”

The unnamed player sued the former coach, the Barnstormers, team sponsor Adidas and the Amateur Athletic Union for being negligent in hiring and supervising Stephen and having inadequate policies to protect “vulnerable youth athletes from the despicable conduct” of Stephen.

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