Posted by August 4, 2025
A repeat child sex offender was allowed to compete against teenage girls in tennis after successfully concealing his identity by identifying as transgender. Cari Sutton, also known as Cary Sutton, was able to avoid US Tennis Association scrutiny for years thanks to his gender identity change.
Sutton, of Marietta, Georgia, was first arrested in the late 1990s on two counts of statutory rape, and ultimately spent more than 2 years in state prisons for the crime. After being released, Sutton sought work as a tennis instructor in the community, and was hired by a company called Allcourt to coach tennis part-time at Laurel Park. The city of Marietta had contracted Allcourt to offer activity and tournament services at the park, but had failed to ensure Allcourt performed background checks on their employees. As a result, Sutton was given access to local youth, and began sexually exploiting a 12-year-old girl who had been attending the park’s tennis court.
Sutton, then 30, provided the child with a secret cellphone he used to communicate with her and send her lewd messages. Parents became aware of the “relationship” in 2008, and reported Sutton to police. He was then arrested on charges of felony child molestation, and convicted the following year. Sutton was only confined to prison for two months, but was forced to register as a sex offender upon his release.
In 2012, Sutton was arrested again after violating the terms of his probation. He is currently listed as a Level 2 sex offender in the state of Georgia, indicating that he is considered to have an “above average” risk of re-offending.
Reviewing his social media history, Sutton appears to have begun “identifying” as a woman in 2020 or 2021, and altered his appearance by growing out his hair and undergoing facial plastic surgery in 2022. While he does not appear to have changed his legal name or sex with the state, Sutton slightly altered the spelling of his name to “Cari,” and began participating in women’s tennis competitions under that new alias.
While a member of the Sandy Springs Tennis Club, Sutton competed in 3 women’s tennis events in 2022, winning one match at the Southern NTRP Fast4 National Qualifier, and taking two losses at the Valdosta Banana Open. In 2023, Sutton competed in 6 more women’s events, including a USTA Southern Closed Playoff Series match against a 14 year-old girl.
Sutton continued to play in USTA-sanctioned matches until June of 2023, when it appears the association finally became aware of his past sex offenses. Sutton was then suspended and added to a USTA database of players ineligible for participation in elite matches.
Notably, Sutton was not deemed “permanently ineligible,” meaning the designation can be reversed at a later date. Sutton was also added to the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s Centralized Disciplinary Database in October of 2023.
Speaking to Reduxx, a representative from the Independent Council on Women’s Sports expressed outrage at Sutton’s participation in events where teenage female athletes were participating.
“ICONS strongly condemns the participation of a registered male sex offender in girls’ tennis tournaments, which endangers female athletes and undermines fair competition,” the organization stated. “All women and girls deserve a safe, respectful environment to pursue the physical, social, and competitive benefits of tennis.”
ICONS placed particular responsibility on the USTA, which they explained has failed in their obligation to protect female athletic categories.
On February 5, 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14201, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” aggressively pushing for the protection of the female category across Olympic and amateur sports. In support of this push, the administration submitted a legal brief to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), arguing that a ban on allowing males to self-identify into the women’s category would not conflict with the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. Armed with this justification, USOPC enacted a policy in July of 2025 excluding biological men from women’s Olympic and Paralympic competition, directing its 54 national governing bodies to align with the executive order
While some sporting bodies have now publicly pledged their intention to comply with the directive, USTA has so far failed to do so.
A review of his Reddit account shows that Sutton is active in communities centered around tennis and trans activism. Disturbingly, he often misrepresents his identity online – referring to himself as “Sadie,” and claiming to be in his 20s when he is in fact 47. Sutton also frequently posts to subreddits intended for “lesbians.”
In one post, made to the r/MTF subreddit, Sutton recounts an encounter with a little girl who he claims called him “really pretty.” The story begins end ends with the line “my cravings get dangerous.”
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