Josh Jackson's Attorney Accused of Offering Bribe to Family of Vandalism Victim

An attorney for University of Kansas basketball star Josh Jackson reportedly offered the family of McKenzie Calvert, a member of the Jayhawks women's basketball team, money if they wouldn't press charges against Jackson in a vandalism case.

Laura Bauer of the Kansas City Star passed along comments Thursday from Tim Calvert, McKenzie's father, about the offer he said was received Feb. 4.

"They wanted to pay to make it all go away," Calvert said. "But it wouldn't have gone away for my daughter. It would have been great for Josh, but not for McKenzie. ... This was never about money for me; it was about how my daughter was treated."

Jackson's attorney, Scott Boatman, released a statement concerning the allegations Friday night, per Bob Fescoe of 610 Sports Radio:

"

It is unfortunate that Mr. Calvert is single-handedly creating a narrative that is not accurate. It is clear that he is frustrated with several parties and with matters unrelated to Josh, yet he continues to manipulate the facts as it relates to a good faith offer of restitution. Mr. Calvert specifically requested that we discuss restitution with his attorney and we complied with his request.

Because of the pending criminal case, we are ethically bound not to comment further on this matter but it is our hope that any further reporting will authenticate statements with fact and not emotion. 

Josh looks forward to moving past this so that he is able to focus on school and basketball.

"

KSHB reported Feb. 24 that Jackson was charged with one count of criminal damage to property, a class B misdemeanor, in relation to the December incident. Witnesses told police they saw him "kick the driver's door and rear taillight" following an argument with McKenzie.

The Douglas County District Attorney's Office stated damage to the car was estimated at $3,150, according to the KSHB report.

Calvert's father told the Kansas City Star that lawyer Hatem Chahine said "money is no object, within reason" if they didn't move forward with the case. After he said the damage was already fixed, the attorney allegedly replied: "There must have been other expenses."

He also wanted the family to agree not to take up the matter with the University of Kansas and agree the damages only reached a misdemeanor level, per Calvert.

Meanwhile, Jesse Newell of the Kansas City Star noted Jackson received a one-game suspension this week from Jayhawks head coach Bill Self for a Feb. 2 incident that led to the freshman getting cited with three traffic violations.

"Although Josh has acknowledged his responsibility and has handled it himself, he didn’t tell me about it until Monday," Self said. "He should have left his contact information at the time and notified us immediately."

Jackson missed the team's upset loss to TCU in the Big 12 quarterfinals Thursday.

The 20-year-old California native was also named among five Kansas players as potential witnesses to the alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl at a dorm that houses male students, including the basketball team, per Hunter Woodall and Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star. No available evidence directly linked him to that reported incident in December, though.

Jackson, a top-five prospect for the 2017 NBA draft, is averaging 16.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks for the Jayhawks this season. He's eligible to return to the lineup in the team's next game, which will come next week in the NCAA tournament.