LIU’s former fencing coach, Ivan Lee, who is involved in a legal case, keeps his personal life, including his wife and children, highly private.
Ivan James Lee, born on March 31, 1981, is a former U.S. Olympic fencer and fencing coach from New York.
He competed in sabre fencing and represented the United States at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Also, he served as Board Chair of USA Fencing and as a coach at Long Island University.
He was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame before. However, his honor was later stripped after he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor sex offenses involving a female fencer he coached at Long Island University.
As a result, he resigned as Board Chair of USA Fencing and received a lifetime ban from the U.S. Center for SafeSport, preventing him from coaching.
On May 6, 2025, the Kings County Criminal Court vacated his conditional plea to forcible touching after he completed a court-ordered treatment program.
However, his guilty plea to harassment in the second degree remains unchanged.
He was sentenced to six years of probation and ordered to enroll in a sex offenders program by the Nassau District Court.
Ivan Lee Is A Father Of Two Children!
A Brooklyn native, Ivan Lee is married to Shameeka Waddell Lee. The couple has two children and has maintained a relatively private family life.
However, allegations of sexual assault against Ivan Lee have thrust the family into the public eye, and Shameeka Waddell Lee has remained silent during the legal process.
On February 26, 2024, Ivan Lee, now 44, was first arrested in Brooklyn, New York, following accusations of sexually assaulting a teenage girl.
He allegedly touched a woman’s chest without her consent and kissed her neck when there were no teammates.
Following his arraignment at Kings Criminal Court in Brooklyn, he was released under non-monetary conditions.
Former US Olympian and LIU fencing coach sentenced for sex offenses https://t.co/zFmEYcnMgC pic.twitter.com/4CDesMjraF
— New York Post (@nypost) May 7, 2025
Ivan Lee was arrested again on March 21, 2024, for a second incident in which he allegedly took the woman to a seafood restaurant after practice and touched her chest without consent.
The case evolved as he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor sex offenses and was sentenced in May 2025.
According to reports, the alleged incident occurred at a fencing club where Lee was a coach.
Shameeka Waddell Lee has not yet made any public statements regarding her husband’s charges.
She is likely focused on protecting their children from media attention and the stress of the case.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Ivan is the only son of his parents, Wesley Desmond Lee and Cynthia Lee.
- He won the NCAA Men’s Sabre Championship twice and claimed the national sabre title five times.
