Bellator champ files lawsuit against former basketball coach

Hawaii News Now reports on the lawsuit filed by current Bellator MMA flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, her sister and one other former student against a Punahou School basketball coach of sexually abusing them while they were students.  Notably, the coach, Dwayne Yuen, was never arrested on the claims.

Macfarlane graduated from Punahou in 2009.  Her and her sister attended the school where the Bellator champ states Yuen started “grooming her and her sister” when they were 12 and 14 respectively.  Macfarlane notes that the sexual abuse still scars her.  The story notes that she had an “inappropriate relationship with an adult “as a 12-year old and its affected her since. 

Hawaii News Now details the accusations of inappropriate touching, cash for sex acts and the coach sending explicit photos of himself.  He was involved in the girls basketball program between 2003 and 2006.  Although not charged with the allegations, the school has launched an internal investigation as well as reporting the allegations to the Honolulu police. 

But, the plaintiffs claim that they had asked help from the school district but received none at the time. 

Ilima-Lei posted a message on Instagram detailing her feelings about the lawsuit.

View this post on Instagram

Even though I’ve been a strong voice for other wahine toa—creating my scholarship for native girls, teaching self-defense to them, leading healing retreats for women—I never really shared my own story. To be honest, I was in denial and didn’t want to admit that it affected me as much as it did. I have to be strong. I’m a professional fighter. I can’t show any vulnerability. I can’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he infiltrated my thoughts, relationships and life even 15 years later. But here we are. The time is now. And for all the trolls saying, “wHy DiD u wAiT s0 l0nG?!” Idiots. We didn’t “wait”. My sister reported him to the school right when it happened and they swept it under the rug. Punahou knew I was a victim and witness to my own sister’s abuse and didn’t even bother to check on me. As a result we were retaliated against by him and the basketball program and had to see him everyday, still allowed on campus around minors. My sister and I tried our best to move on with our lives until it resurfaced in 2018 when more victims came forward. Punahou claimed they were doing an internal investigation but again, didn’t contact me and refused to share the results of the “investigation” with my sister. Disgustingly, we found out that he’s STILL coaching and teaching minor girls. So here we are now, 15 years later seeking justice together. He can’t get away with this anymore. Dwayne Yuen, YOUR TIME IS UP. P.S. I chose this picture not only for the solidarity that my family and I have together through this process, but to show you how old me and Mahina were when the sexual grooming and abuse started. I was in 6th grade and she (far right) was a freshman.

A post shared by Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (@ilimanator) on Apr 23, 2020 at 3:14pm PDT

Payout Perspective:

The lawsuit which was filed this week are currently sealed from public viewing. This is a troubling issue based on the allegations of the abuse and the fact the school did not intervene at the time according to the plaintiffs.  Its clear that something like this could be traumatizing for the plaintiffs and alter the way they view relationships and trust.  MMA Payout will keep you posted.