Minnesota Investigating Ex-Hockey Coach Thomas Adrahtas for Alleged Sexual Abuse

The University of Minnesota is reportedly investigating allegations of sexual misconduct levied against former assistant men's hockey coach Thomas Adrahtas.

Katie Strang of The Athletic reported the news, noting Adrahtas was an assistant on the team for the 1984-85 season. Last Friday, Strang reported several people accused Adrahtas, who had an "abrupt exit" from the Gophers, of sexual abuse.

Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle distributed a letter announcing the investigation that said, "I write to you and your 1984-85 hockey teammates to say that I deeply regret any such harm that may have occurred within Golden Gopher Athletics."

The email also said Minnesota has hired the Perkins Coie law firm to complete the investigation.

"We are also asking you, as former members of the Men's Hockey team that year, to please bring forward any information you have related to these allegations by contacting the Perkins Coie team," Coyle wrote in the letter.

In addition to his time at Minnesota, Adrahtas coached in the North American Hockey League and at Robert Morris University in Illinois.

He is also suspended from coaching USA Hockey-sanctioned teams while SafeSport, which investigates reports of sexual misconduct under the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, investigates allegations from a number of former players in the 1980s.

Strang noted the ongoing SafeSport investigation started in September 2018 and has included the participation of members of the 1984-85 Minnesota squad.

"One of Adrahtas' former junior hockey players sent a 14-paragraph letter to both the ACHA and Adrahtas' then-employer, Robert Morris University, detailing what he described as a 20-month span of sexual abuse and exploitation in which he was an unwilling participant in sexual acts while bound by the ankles and blindfolded," Strang wrote.

Adrahtas and his attorney denied he sexually abused anyone.