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Georgia Tech Head Coach Josh Pastner Accused of Sexual Assault in Lawsuit
February 8, 2018
Georgia Tech basketball coach Josh Pastner has been accused of sexual assault in a Pima County, Arizona, lawsuit.
Dan Marries of KOLD News provided details of the lawsuit:
Pastner responded to the allegations on Thursday, per Eric Crawford of WDRB:
The first alleged incident took place in 2016 when Pastner was the head coach at Memphis.
Jennifer Pendley is the named plaintiff in the lawsuit, alleging Pastner masturbated in front of her and attempted to force her head toward his penis before threatening her to remain silent. There were reportedly 11 acts of sexual harassment over a two-and-a-half-week period in 2016.
Pastner's lawyer, Scott Tompsett, has responded to the allegations, via Gary Parrish of CBS Sports:
"There was no sexual assault. It is a lie. Josh never acted improperly with Ms. Pendley. Never," Tompsett said in the statement.
He continued, "In this era of women courageously coming forward to report valid claims of sexual assault and harassment, we are saddened and outraged that Mr. Bell and Ms. Pendley have concocted a malicious lie to blackmail and to harm a family that showed only compassion toward them."
As Kelly Quinlan of Rivals noted, Pendley is the girlfriend of Ron Bell, who is already involved in a pair of countersuits with the coach.
Bell initially acknowledged in November that he provided two Georgia Tech players with illegal benefits, stating Pastner knew of the violations.
In January, Pastner filed a lawsuit against both Bell and Pendley, alleging "defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting and injurious falsehoods and attempts to blackmail and extort" the coach and his family.
As part of the lawsuit, it was revealed Bell had also told NCAA investigators of the alleged sexual assault in December 2017.
However, this counterclaim brings the first in-court allegations against the 40-year-old coach.