Jake Bain, the Missouri high school football star who made headlines in 2017 after coming out as gay, and later became one of the first openly gay Division I team athletes in history when he matriculated at Indiana State in 2018, issued some disturbing allegations in his Instagram Stories on Thursday.
Bain, who retired from football after his freshman year, posted a statement alleging that his father – who has apparently worked as a high school basketball coach for years – had abused Bain and “many others.”
Bain’s statement via his social media accounts:
“I have in my possession over 20 pages of court documents, detailing the abuse that me, and many others endured at the hands of my father. To protect the confidentiality of those who are mentioned in these documents, I won’t release them to the public.”
“However, I believe that [it] should be public knowledge that while working as a high school basketball coach at both Westminster Christian Academy, and MICDS, two well known private schools in Saint Louis, MO, my father was found to be showering with other students, emailing inappropriately with students about things a coach or teacher should never be talking to kids about, and would have students to his house for ‘sleepovers.’”
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that none of this behavior is appropriate for any adult to be displaying. To my knowledge, my father is still coaching basketball at the AAU level in Saint Louis, so I urge anyone who is either employing him to coach, or allowing him to use their facilities, to please stop, so this behavior does not continue.”
While the allegations of abuse were initially shared in Bain’s Instagram Story, he later shared the same image on his Twitter account.
Bain’s post did not identify his father by name, but a report at Kenneth in the (212) said his father is Eric Bain.
“Although the allegations are somewhat fuzzy — where are these court documents filed? are the police involved? is there an ongoing investigation of his father? — they are clearly disturbing,” wrote Kenneth. “According to Eric Bain’s LinkedIn, he currently works in training at the St. Louis Basketball Academy.”
Bain’s latest post on his Instagram account tells his “future partner” that he’s “got a lot of layers to peel back, but once you get to the center, trust me, you’ll find a heart bigger than you’ve ever seen before, take care of it.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CG3lkfMhliQ/
Last May, Bain told his 38,000+ Instagram followers that he is a survivor of sexual abuse, writing, “To those of you who are victims of sexual abuse, I’m with you. I know how you may be feeling. I want you to know that you are not alone.”
“Waking up to a sweat-filled bed, left with the fleeting thoughts and feelings of what we had to endure and carry on with us,” he continued.
“These scars of which I fear most, are also a constant reminder that I got through it. I persevered. We are warriors, and just when you think you can’t do it anymore… fight a little longer. Reach out to others for help. Don’t be afraid to feel vulnerable. Know that this was not your fault, and does not define who you are.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAYCtEFhiIj/
After coming out in 2017, Bain went on to famously take his boyfriend to the prom and even appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where the talk show host honored him for his courage in coming out.
Jake Bain shared in a recent interview with Men’s Health that he’s “more at peace” since leaving football. He also came out again in June, this time as pansexual.
His Twitter profile lists him as an LGBTQ+ activist and he’s currently pursuing a degree in sports psychology.
This profile from the It Gets Better Project features Bain telling his story in his own words.
Note – this video was posted on YouTube on October 21 prior to Bain’s recent allegations.
