Don Peters, a former U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics coach, has been banned for life from the sport and kicked out of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame after he was accused of having sex with at least three young gymnasts.

A press release issued on Wednesday by USA Gymnastics, the national governing body for the sport, stated that Peters' membership will be revoked and that he is placed on the permanently ineligible list for abusing young gymnasts in the 1980's.

Any other rights and privileges connected to the Hall of Fame or the gymnastics will also be removed, USA Gymnastics also noted in the statement.

Peters, 62, coached the record-setting 1984 U.S. women's team to eight medals.

Doe Yamashiro, a former U.S. national team and SCATS member, and Linda McNamara, the former SCATS assistant director, reported their allegations to USA Gymnastics, which then started its investigation.

The hearing panel's final decision brings to an end the disciplinary process the USA Gymnastics' bylaws require.

The decision follows a story published by The Orange County Register in September, where three women came forward to say Peters had sex with three gymnasts during the 1980s.

Yamashiro told the Register that Peters started repeatedly fondling her in 1986, when she was 16. Yamashiro has also accused Peters of having sexual intercourse with her when she was 17.

Another woman, who spoke under conditions of anonymity, has also told the Register that Peters had sex with her when she was 18. That woman said she was sexually abused by her father and that Peters was aware of the abuse.

According to the Register, McNamara, who shared an office with Peters, said that the former coach had confessed to her in the early 1990s that he was having sex with Yamashiro, the second former SCATS gymnast and a third teenage gymnast.

More than a dozen former gymnasts told their stories of physical or sexual abuse by coaches they had come to depend on, the Register reported, adding that the women have complained that officials haven't done enough to confront and investigate abuse and remove coaches found to have engaged in it.

Peters has refused to respond to the allegations.

I'm not talking to you. Goodnight, Peters reportedly told the Register earlier this week when he was contacted for an interview.

Peters' unfolding scandal is just another that has highlighted sexual abuse in the sports world.

In recent weeks, Penn State University has been rocked by allegations of sexual abuse, which has caused its former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky to be charged with more than 40 counts of child sex abuse for allegedly molesting eight young boys. Two other prominent university officials, head coach Joe Paterno and school president Graham Spanier have also lost their jobs because of the scandal.