Eugene "Gene" Heffron (born October 1939) is an American former competitive

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

. With his skating partner, Vicki Camper, he won silver at the 1968 U.S. Championships and was part of the U.S. ice dancing demonstration team at the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. The 1968 Winter Games marked the first time ...

. Heffron formerly coached at the Figure Skating Club of the Quad Cities in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

. On March 28, 2018, his membership with

U.S. Figure Skating U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act a ...

was suspended pending an investigation by the

United States Center for SafeSport The United States Center for SafeSport is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization set up to reduce sexual abuse of minors and athletes in Olympic sports in the United States. Established in 2017 under the Protecting Young Victims from Sex ...

. On October 11, 2018, he was banned from membership of U.S. Figure Skating and any sport under the auspices of the

U.S. Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

. On May 25, 2018, Heffron was charged with three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving minor students under the age of seventeen. Seven additional counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse were added on July 11, 2018. He pled not guilty to four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse on a child between the ages of 13 and 16 and six counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse on a child between the ages of 13 and 18. On October 21, 2022, he was found guilty of three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for charges involving one victim. The student was between ages 9 and 15 when the abuse occurred. She was not the only victim, as others had come forward against his abuse. A second skater was also allowed during the trial to tell her account of the defendant’s sexual conduct towards her when she was 15 and 16 years of age. Trial dates for the remaining two victims has not been set. As of May 19, 2025, the verdict remains guilty - with a sentencing date to be set on June 06, 2025 at 1:30 pm Central Time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heffron, Gene Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male ice dancers 1930s births 20th-century American sportsmen