Ilima-Lei MacFarlane, the current Bellator flyweight champion, is filing a lawsuit through the Honolulu Circuit Court against her former school and basketball coach, alleging sexual abuse that began when she was a child in 2003.
MacFarlane is joined by her sister and another unnamed student-athlete of Punahou School who claim that their former basketball coach, Dwayne Yuen, sexually groomed them beginning when MacFarlane was 12 and her sister was 14. The story was first reported by Hawaii News Now.
MacFarlane stated that prior to the alleged abuse, she had been considering a career in basketball, but took up wrestling due to the emotional damage of what happened, which ultimately led to her career in MMA. She says that the alleged abuse also affected her perception of what a healthy relationship should be.
The sisters claim that Yuen “forced them to touch his genitals, offered cash for sex acts and sent explicit photos of himself.” The third woman claims that in addition to the sexual abuse, Yuen also sent her threatening text and phone messages, the transcripts of which have been included in the lawsuit. Yuen and his attorney did not respond to the outlet’s requests for comment, and there is currently no indication that Yuen was ever arrested in connection with the allegations.
The school is also named in the lawsuit, and MacFarlane claims that although she and her sister reported Yuen to the school over fifteen years ago, there was a lack of follow-up from Punahou. In light of the recent lawsuit and allegations, Punahou sent out an email to members of the school’s community saying that they had reported the women’s claims to the police and had opened up an internal investigation. “In no uncertain terms, Punahou stands with survivors of sexual abuse everywhere, and we respect the courage it takes to report these incidents,” the email said.
MacFarlane has also opened up about the period of her life in a social media post, deliberately showing her followers just how young she and her sister were when the alleged abuse began.
“Even though I’ve been a strong voice for other wahine toa—creating my scholarship for native girls, teaching self-defense to them, leading healing retreats for women—I never really shared my own story. To be honest, I was in denial and didn’t want to admit that it affected me as much as it did. I have to be strong. I’m a professional fighter. I can’t show any vulnerability. I can’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he infiltrated my thoughts, relationships and life even 15 years later. But here we are. The time is now.
And for all the trolls saying, “wHy DiD u wAiT s0 l0nG?!” Idiots. We didn’t “wait”. My sister reported him to the school right when it happened and they swept it under the rug. Punahou knew I was a victim and witness to my own sister’s abuse and didn’t even bother to check on me. As a result we were retaliated against by him and the basketball program and had to see him everyday, still allowed on campus around minors. My sister and I tried our best to move on with our lives until it resurfaced in 2018 when more victims came forward. Punahou claimed they were doing an internal investigation but again, didn’t contact me and refused to share the results of the “investigation” with my sister. Disgustingly, we found out that he’s STILL coaching and teaching minor girls. So here we are now, 15 years later seeking justice together. He can’t get away with this anymore. Dwayne Yuen, YOUR TIME IS UP.
P.S. I chose this picture not only for the solidarity that my family and I have together through this process, but to show you how old me and Mahina were when the sexual grooming and abuse started. I was in 6th grade and she (far right) was a freshman.“
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