Iowa athletic director Gary Barta and coach Kirk Ferentz encouraged the victim of an alleged sexual assault last fall involving Hawkeye players to keep the matter in-house, the mother of the alleged victim told the Iowa City Press-Citizen.The mother provided the newspaper with a letter she sent to Iowa officials last fall. The letter detailed the mother's account of the events that followed the alleged attack at Hillcrest Residence Hall on Oct. 14, 2007, and the university's course of action that followed. The letter says that officials — including Barta and Ferentz — encouraged the alleged victim to follow an "informal" process, promising that the athletic department would act swiftly and effectively.
The Board of Regents announced last month that Iowa had acted properly in handling the alleged incident, but two regents told the newspaper they were not informed about the existence of the letter.
"I was very surprised that such a letter existed and that the board was not informed about it prior to [Friday]," regents president David Miles said.
Iowa governor Chet Culver is calling for an investigation.
Two former players have been charged in the alleged incident. Cedric Everson has pleaded not guilty to second-degree sexual assault charges. Abe Satterfield has been charged with second- and third-degree sexual assault. Satterfield's lawyer has said his client plans to plead not guilty.
The bad news keeps rolling out of Iowa City. Early Saturday, recruit Riley Reiff was arrested for public intoxication and interference with official acts after leading at least eight officers on a foot chase that lasted 20 minutes.
Add another to the dizzying string of incidents involving Ferentz's players.
1 comment:
Gary Barnett is banging his head on the table saying, "Why didn't I think of this?"
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