A Los Angeles water polo star breaks his silence after allegations of sexual assault against a teammate

The Black water polo star broke his silence after his fall The bombshell of sexual assault and racist allegations Against one of his white colleagues.

Aidan Roman, now 18, sat down with Vanity Fair for a searing interview, in which he shared harrowing details of the months-long harassment while he was at the elite school Harvard-Westlake in California.

“It was just outright, blatant racism,” he said. magazine. The water polo prodigy remembers the first time he said he was sexually assaulted by Luca van der Woude, one of the people named in his lawsuit.

One time, while he was whisking eggs in the water, he felt someone grab his buttocks and insert a finger. This experience shocked him, and even more so when he realized that his teammate Luca had done it.

“I was like, ‘Why did you do that? What are you doing?'” Aidan said. “He just laughed.”

Aidan also alleged several instances in which he was racially targeted and called insults, including shortening the N-word.

According to the lawsuit, the player named Kim and Van der Woude “continuously dehumanized him” and regularly used the insult.

“They didn’t try to hide it,” Aidan said. “When the lights go out, they say, ‘Where’s Aidan?’ or “Where is the abusive black person?”

He described the atmosphere as harsh and openly racist. “It was just blatant, blatant racism,” he said.

The complaint also alleges that Kim and Van der Voede “whipped” Aidan in the weight room with a gym equipment-grade jump rope in what the lawsuit describes as a “slavery reenactment,” while saying, “Get back to work!”

Another incident allegedly occurred during the team’s trip to Spain with the Los Angeles Premier Water Polo Club, where the players trained at Natacio Barcelona.

According to the lawsuit, a teammate began chanting the “N” word at another black player on the team bus.

When that player asked him to stop, another teammate allegedly warned Aidan and the other player to keep quiet, telling them that no one would believe two “black players” over the rest of the group.

All of this has had a negative impact on Aidan’s family.

“I was devastated that Aidan could tell people at school and no one did anything,” said Alex Roman, Aidan’s father.

“No one said anything. No one told us.” He wiped his eyes. “We haven’t really slept since October 2023.”

Roman’s family says the ordeal lasted more than two years. Aidan joined the varsity team in August 2022, and in the fall of 2023, he and his parents officially reported racial abuse. Within days, the school concluded that no assault had occurred.

On 28 February 2024, van der Woude was arrested. On November 7, 2024, he admitted in juvenile court to sexual penetration with a foreign object against a minor under a plea deal; The charge related to Eden was later dropped.

Now, Aidan and his family have filed a civil suit against Harvard-Westlake, school officials and Van der Woode.

“What’s the range of emotions? Our emotions? When we just found out that our son was abused for 18 months? When you say you empathize with a range of emotions in a situation where at least two minors have been sexually abused by someone else, it just confirms that your ultimate goal is not actually to protect all the minors in your care. Is there any other appropriate reaction other than anger?” Alex said diverse.

Van der Woude maintains his innocence despite pleading guilty in criminal court.

“Luca denies all the accusations against him as we have been informed by Roman’s team,” his lawyers wrote in a letter to Condé Nast.

“There have been no witnesses to these allegations and there have been no complaints for over 18 months.”

Regarding the civil suit, his lawyers added: “We do not intend to litigate this matter in the media. Mr. van der Woude’s denial and other responses will be clear and unambiguous in his defense of the complaint at hand.”

The school — which has total assets of $832 million and, according to the student newspaper, has an endowment of about $250 million — has publicly denied any wrongdoing and said it acted appropriately.

In a statement submitted to Vanity galleryThe school said it “unequivocally refutes many of these allegations that mischaracterize the facts and actions of the school.”

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