According to a report, a man who has a record as a child molester hid his identity by claiming to be a transgender woman when he joined the US Tennis Association to play against teenage girls.
Cary Sutton, who is now 47, entered the tournaments as Cari Sutton after being arrested in the 1990s on two counts of statutory rape. He spent two years in prison for the crime, but after being released, he attempted to become a kids’ tennis coach. That position led to more charges of sexual abuse of kids, and by 2018, he was arrested again, this time on felony child molestation. He was convicted and was required to register as a sex offender, according to Reduxx.
🚨Outrageous: overwhelming thread of men competing in women's tennis @usta @martina⤵️ https://t.co/pi86OPkBAi
— ICONS (@icons_women) August 4, 2025
By 2020, though, Sutton began “identifying” as a woman, and in 2022, he registered as “Cari Sutton” and joined the Sandy Springs Tennis Club, where he entered 3 women’s tennis events. Over the ensuing years, Sutton continued to enter and participate in women’s and girls’ tennis matches and was competing against girls as young as 14, playing in at least a dozen tournaments. It is not clear if he supplied his actual age or registered under a false age.
It wasn’t until June of 2023 that the US Tennis Association finally caught onto his real identity and banned him from competition. His name was added to the USTA database of ineligible players. However, he is not listed as “permanently ineligible,” meaning he could appeal and be reinstated.
Additionally, his name was added to the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s Centralized Disciplinary Database in October of 2023.
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) excoriated the US Tennis Association for allowing trans athletes to join their programs.
“ICONS strongly condemns the participation of a registered male sex offender in girls’ tennis tournaments, which endangers female athletes and undermines fair competition,” ICONS told Reduxx. “All women and girls deserve a safe, respectful environment to pursue the physical, social, and competitive benefits of tennis.”
“The USTA’s longstanding player inclusion policy ignores the well-being of women, compromising the sport’s integrity, and creates opportunities for male predators to exploit weak leadership and oversight. We are deeply concerned that the USTA continues to ignore federal guidance under the Ted Stevens Act and the Trump administration’s executive order protecting women’s sports,” ICONS added. “We call on the USTA, WTA, and ITF to implement robust sex-based eligibility policies, as implemented by World Athletics and World Boxing, slamming the door on policies that prioritize male inclusion over the rights of women and girls at every level of tennis.”
According to his social media, Sutton continues to frequent local gyms, parks, and sports centers that cater to children in the Dallas, Georgia, area he calls home.
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