At 16, Jeffrey Dewsnup was celebrated as one of the top prospects to come through Real Salt Lake’s academy in Herriman as he became the team’s youngest-ever player in 2021.

“Jeff is a fantastic young goalkeeper with an extremely bright future in the game,” former RSL general manager Elliot Fall said in a news release after Dewsnup signed his pro contract. “As a Herriman native, he is a further testament to our investment in development and soccer in our community.”

Now Dewsnup is alleging four of his former teammates hazed him and a coach mishandled his injuries while the club, Major League Soccer and the U.S. Soccer Federation failed to protect him, demanding $100 million and punitive damages in a lawsuit that claims their actions destroyed his soccer career.

Dewsnup was a goalkeeper who left the team in 2022. He was 15 when he began training with Real Salt Lake in 2019, and 16 when he joined the team. The teen was required to use the locker room and shower used by adult players without anyone supervising their interactions with him, according to the lawsuit filed last week in 3rd District Court.

The lawsuit alleges player Aaron Herrera exposed his genitals to Dewsnup and that Herrera and player David Ochoa made explicit comments about Dewsnup’s body. Herrera and players Tate Schmitt and Justen Glad threw a soccer ball at Dewsnup while the teen was changing, striking his naked buttocks multiple times, it also alleges.

“The conduct was not accidental; it was a repeated ‘game’ specifically targeting plaintiff because he was a minor and because he had expressed discomfort,” the lawsuit alleges.

Herrera, asked for comment through his current team, DC United, did not respond. Ochoa did not respond to a request for comment. The Salt Lake Tribune could not reach Schmitt. Glad remains with the club.

“Real Salt Lake takes any claims related to athlete safety extremely seriously,” RSL said in a statement to The Tribune. “The club is aware of a complaint filed by a former professional player and firmly denies the allegations. The club will vigorously defend itself through the legal process.”

A team spokesperson told The Tribune Monday that RSL, Monarchs and Utah Royals now all provide separate locker rooms for minors signed to the clubs.

Dewsnup briefly rejoined RSL during the 2025 preseason, a club spokesperson pointed out. A KSL reporter said in a post on X at the time that Dewsnup had his sights set on earning a spot with the Real Monarchs, which competes in the third division of professional soccer in the United States.

A coach accused

Dewsnup, now 22, and his attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Dewsnup’s lawsuit also alleges that Real Salt Lake’s goalkeeper coach at the time, Ignacio Hernandez, forced him to train on an injured shoulder in 2021 “after accusing plaintiff of faking the injury.”

That caused Dewsnup’s shoulder injury to worsen and required additional medical treatment, the lawsuit said. Hernandez “mishandled” the teen’s hip and shoulder injuries and foot, and harassed, verbally abused and isolated him, the suit alleges.

The Tribune could not reach Hernandez for comment. He is not listed on the current RSL coaching roster.

Dewsnup’s father reported the issues to RSL leaders “on multiple occasions in 2021,” but the club “did nothing,” the suit said. Dewsnup was admitted to a hospital in April 2022 after suffering severe emotional distress and he now suffers from PTSD, according to the lawsuit.

It accuses RSL of “failing to implement any child protection policies” for the teenage player.

A duty to protect

RSL, Major League Soccer and the U.S. Soccer Federation, which is responsible under federal law for implementing athlete safety policies, had a duty to protect Dewsnup as a minor in their care, the lawsuit asserts.

But RSL, MLS and USSF, it said, “deliberately chose”:

• To not require that Dewsnup be provided with an adult participant personal care assistant, also known as a PCA, to supervise his activities with the team.

• To not mandate that Dewsnup be provided with a locker room separate from his adult teammates.

• To not provide proper training to coaches, staff and players about safeguarding a minor and amateur athlete. The lawsuit also accuses RSL of failing to provide Dewsnup or his parents with any training on how to report child abuse.

RSL did not make mandatory reports to law enforcement or the U.S. Center for SafeSport, required under the Safe Sport Authorization Act, a federal law that requires amateur sports organizations to report sexual abuse and misconduct to law enforcement, the suit alleges.

The Center for SafeSport has examined similar issues more recently while providing guidance for a subset of organizations it oversees, specifically those in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movement.

Young athletes can be “especially vulnerable to abuse in changing areas where they are undressing and possibly showering,” the center said in its Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies, adopted in 2025. “Appropriate monitoring is necessary in these areas to prevent abuse and other inappropriate conduct.”

Adult athletes must not “intentionally or recklessly” expose their genitals to a minor athletes in locker rooms, according to the policies. The center requires Olympic organizations to offer training to minor athletes on the prevention and reporting of child abuse, and recommends that parents complete similar training.

‘No desire to go back’

Dewsnup is seeking $20 million for past and future medical expenses and $80 million for lost wages, after he had to “resign entirely from soccer altogether given the experiences with no desire to go back,” the lawsuit states.

The suit also seeks a declaration from the court that a “release of claims” Dewsnup signed in or around April 2022 is not enforceable. Dewsnup was 17 and under duress; he was not represented by an attorney admitted to practice law in Utah and was not allowed to consult with an independent lawyer or his parents; and he was not part of any negotiations related to it, the lawsuit said.

“Any payment made was nominal or was compensation already owed to plaintiff for work performed,” the lawsuit said, also arguing: “A release that would deprive a minor victim of the right to sue his abusers is unconscionable as a matter of law.”